I’ve been knitting, and knitting, and knitting.

Posted on January 20th, 2013 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

I know I’ve been knitting a little here and there for a while now. In the past few months I’ve really fallen in love though. I’ve gotten good enough that I don’t have to look at my hands constantly while knitting anymore, I’m comfortable knitting flat or in the round, I’ve even added a ton of new skills like  cables, short rows and even the provisional cast on. Sorry for all the pictures (I did mention I’ve been knitting lots right) I’ve been a busy girl. Clicking on the links after the photos you can read more about the patterns and yarns used.

Doesn’t this basket full of yarn make you want to knit?

It started back in October when I started knitting to make sure I had a jumpstart on the busy birthday/holiday season with this monster for Finn. Meet Maddox as you can see Finn loved his birthday monster.

Next up Lexi had requested a black cat ear hat. I was so excited to use my new stitch markers.

Isn’t Lexi so pretty with her ear flap cat hat?

When Lexi went up to Connecticut for the holidays my sister saw her hat and asked for me to make her one too. Rory modeled it for her.

I even made a striped version for my other sis (aka my little brother’s long time girlfriend Kristin) alas, I forgot to get a picture of it.

My very first cable project was a scarf for Lexi in hindsight I should have used a different yarn and my stitch markers much more because cabled rows are harder to count than I realized.

Then I started to panic. Aidan was leaving in Mid November to go to Baltimore for Thanksgiving and he had no hat and I only had 2 days so I had to use whatever yarn I could find at the local craft store at 8pm after a slight mishap with his first hat being accidentally felted in the washer. This slouchy hat was perfect and super quick to knit!

From October til about 10 days into December in between all projects I had a pair of these little mittens on needles.

A pregnant friend having a little boy needed a little baby shower gift. So onto the needles went this adorable little hat.

Isn’t it adorable? I still can’t get over just how small this newborn sized long tail hat is.

My mailbox had a happy, happy, joy, joy day when all this arrived one day.

And, I kept knitting mittens.

I started knitting Lexi a pair of gloves.

I finished one cat in the hat glove. Though currently I’ve also taken it back apart because the thumb was funny on it. Its a back burner project for now.

 I started Jack’s birthday present.

Loving monsters.

I love, love, love the super long arms on these monsters, and I can’t wait to get my hands on that colorway yarn again either.

I finally finished the mitten advent calendar garland.

I started a cable rimmed hat for my little brother in the same green yarn from his scarf I made him last Christmas.

Thankfully this cable hat it was also a pretty quick project and I will be making these for the whole family if we ever live where we need hats again.

Cast on Rory’s creeper. If you or your kids play the game minecraft you know what a creeper is. Rory loves/hates them and its the ONLY thing he wanted for Hannukkah/Christmas so it HAD to happen. Even if that means knitting til 2am on Christmas Eve to pull it off.

And, pull it off I did. Here is Rory dancing with his Creeper.

Finn requested a dinosaur vs. another monster so a dinosaur he would get. The yarn for this is even called dino-RAWR.

Spent some time playing with my Christmas gifts, my ball winder,

and, swift.

Took a quick dinosaur break to knit myself up a quick pair of slippers because we were having a cold front and my toes were cold.

Went back and finished Basil the Brontosaurus who loves to give Maddox rides.

Then my girlie was coming home after a month in Connecticut and I knit her a little soft kitty as part of her Christmas gift.

You get a bonus picture because I think Lexi looks so beautiful in this one.

I haven’t stopped knitting I’ve been knitting a pair of socks. Socks take a long time but they will get a separate post I’ve been documenting their progress via instagram quite a bit.

Do you knit? Whats on your needles right now?

I made Aidan a Quilt

Posted on January 9th, 2013 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

In the tradition I started of the year of making each of the kids a quilt the next birthday up was Aidan’s. HIs favorite color is blue I thought this would be super easy to work with. I was not so pleasantly surprised to find that so many blue fabrics are either boring or floral, making a quilt for a would be 13 year old boy florals were OUT.

This was the start of my fabric pull back in January. Not all of those fabrics made it into the final quilt though.

Of course I again forgot to take pictures while I was sewing the blocks together someday I’ll learn from all those quilt bloggers I follow and swoon over.

I layed out all the blocks took multiple pictures to make sure I had everything right. This is the movin on up  pattern from  Crazy Mom Quilts. Ignore those wrinkly guys at the bottom after I had placed everything I had to feed the kids so I just rolled it all up using the quilt I had put everything on I did re press them before sewing them.

While watching a movie with the kids with my ipad out for photo layout reference  sewed those pieces into rows.

Ta da the top aka my part is done now it gets sent off to Tarabu for her to quilt.

I love the in the ditch quilting she did!

This was the BEST surprise! I had send binding and fabric for her to “do something”  with the backing and Tarabu went above and beyond and blocked out Aidan’s name.

Where does the time go?

Posted on December 5th, 2012 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

I’ve had it on my to do list to get to all the blog posts I owe from August on I’ve got 2 birthday parties, at least as many quilts, and a million other projects and recipes to share. Instead I’ll just go through my phone and show you what we’ve been doing via instagram. Honestly I just went through my photo stream and I haven’t even taken as many pictures as I normally do so you lucked out!

There has been knitting, lots, and lots of knitting. So much that I’ve also been hoarding yarn like it was fabric and it had outgrown its original tiny basket. It has now also outgrown that basket and the entire cubby it fits into and is spilling into the next cubby.

This face. How can you resist it I know I can’t.

I made a wreath you know like all those ones you see on Pinterest. Mine still needs a better (bigger) bow. Orange ribbon is hard to fine when the stores have switched over for Christmas.

The freak kids went swimming in November on a day it was barely 78. I think they were cold. I know I was watching them.

I started knitting these cute little mittens for a family experience advent calendar only 24 more to go.

I knit up a quick slouchy hat for Aidan’s trip to Baltimore for Thanksgiving.

Then my elf got his very own tree. Once he finished decorating he informed me it can stay up all year long.

I started knitting a pair of gloves for Lexi. This yarn is about the thickness of bakers twine and the needles are glorified toothpicks.

A Monster Birthday Bash was planned for Finn who was turing 4! Where did the time go?

This guy woke up happy as could be on his birthday!

My first adventure into cables with yarn that likes to twist in to its own drummer. A scarf for Lexi. She also got this beautiful shawl pin to go with it.

Our last event all while all the kids were together for the holidays was to decorate our tree together.

Holiday Preparations…part 1

Posted on November 18th, 2012 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

I know its been quiet and I owe you quite a few posts as to what has been going on, however Rory LOVES the Holiday Season. He was literally still in his halloween costume asking me how quickly I could get down the halloween stuff so he could start decorating for Christmas. To that 6 year old boy Christmas is a season from Nov 1-about Feb 1 when he starts preparing for his March Birthday. To him Christmas includes the Festival of St Nick, St Lucy Day, Hanukkah and all 12 days of Christmas. He tells us all the time he will be an elf when he grows up. We’ve made a few things to get ready (I’ll blog about them soon I promise) tonight while watching our 3rd family movie of the day I designed our Holiday Card with Shutterfly because they have some AMAZING sales going on.

Here is what I made.

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Where do you get your Holiday Cards printed? 

Slowing Down and Smallering for a New ME!

Posted on July 7th, 2012 in 101 in 1001, blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

I have to honestly say the past 3 years business wise, personal wise & family wise have been such a whirlwind. From in 2010 my business grew to SIX TIMES what it had been in 2009 and 2009 had already DOUBLED 2008. I was in awe. I was and have been struggling to keep up ever since. I have felt constantly behind always wanting to do more, make more, be more, create more new products trying to fill everyone’s needs. The person’s needs I was ignoring most of the time were my own. In the past 3 years I have gained an additional 50 lbs on my already overweight 5′ 1″ body . I can’t even begin to tell you how many times in the past few years at shows someone would come to my booth and tell me they had been following my blog or heard from a friend about my products but just didn’t expect me to be so fat. I’ve mostly laughed it off saying things like “yeah 3 term pregnancies in 5 years will do that to you” or “I have no me time with 3 kids I’m homeschooling and an infant/toddler” when what I really wanted was to cry. Every single time I thought about a missed sale or connection because I was fat. It was time for a change. In the 20+ shows I did from 2009-2011 this is the ONLY picture I have of me with my booth, and the only reason is I was being photographed with the winners of the scavenger hunt for my herbal tea.

Image from http://fentonstreetmarket.com from 2010

What does this mean for Lana Bella? Well I recently started project me aka Jenni loses 100+ lbs by my birthday next year. To accomplish this for my self-esteem, for my health (please lets not discuss how there are plenty of bigger people in better health than some skinny people because I know for ME being 100+ lbs overweight is not healthy for my mind. body or spirit), for my spirit, for my family, I’ll be pulling back a little. I’ll be saying No a little more. I’ll let things run out of stock once in a while. It’s honestly a lot of work keeping 50+ soaps in stock never mind the other products. I’ll be keeping more accurate inventory. So when you order a 3, 4, or 6 pack of soap and you want x of something please don’t be angry if you get an email back and I say I’m sorry I only have b left would you like a substitution? I’ll be setting aside only two days a month for making what I get done will have to be enough. I will add a third day in and get prepped better for holiday. I will warn you though there will only be 45 bars total of the holiday soaps I won’t be making more that gives you from Nov 1 (I’ll have them ready a little earlier this year) until they sell out to get them. If you know now that you want 12 of something for teachers gift or stockings please contact me soon so I can get in into my schedule.  Also know that because of the multiple shops and the single inventory I am human so there may be time when an order comes in that I haven’t adjusted inventory elsewhere I’m sorry in advance, and hey you might luck out and get an upgrade in size because of it .

I find it a bit ironic that when I started my business back in 2004 I had found an article on another diaper makers website about smallering. It made so much sense then and I tried to follow the ideals. Then in 2010 doing shows was a total new whirlwind for me. I am ever grateful for all those shows financially they really helped us to do so much with our family, that never would have happened otherwise. For now to move forward though I need to slow down. Somehow I have a 3.5 year old and nearly two teenagers, life is moving too fast and I don’t want to miss any more of their childhoods.

You might find me blogging more though there will be a lot of transformations happening. I’ve also started a second blog. I was on the fence about this for a very long time. I only wanted the responsibilities of maintaining one blog, however I wasn’t sure how much I was ready to share about my weight loss journey. In the past week its funny it has 9 days I’ve decided I’m pretty comfortable with sharing it all but I’ll spare you that journey and instead refer you to the other blog so you can follow my weightless transformation over there. If you have been struggling with it yourself please contact me I’d love to discuss with no obligations what I am doing and how excited I am. I’ve hated clothes shopping for a really long time however I’m really excited about buying exercise clothing go figure! I’m really excited about the changes and I hope we can all still work together.

This also means I am more than ever open to wholesale. I’d honestly rather spend those 2 making days a month making a really big order and put it to bed and have that much less responsibility.

Thank you for all of your support over the years and I hope in the future! Lets bring it!

We went to the zoo… day two

Posted on June 20th, 2012 in blog, family, homeschool by jenni

Rory and Finn had so much fun at the zoo it was all they talked about. Steve was coming up for the weekend from Key West and I mentioned that maybe the following day we could all go to the zoo. The kids LOVED that idea. I also decided to bring my telephoto lens instead of my standard lens on the second day. I’ll spare you the eleventy billion animal pictures (except a few I can’t resist) that I took.

I thought a picture with the peacock would be a nice tradition. Then we rented one of those pedal car things they have here. It really was a nice change from the day before when the boys & I walked the whole zoo.

We also went backwards from the way we went the day before so the giraffes happened very early on. I just loved the interaction between the mama giraffe and her baby. The kids fed them too but I wasn’t up on the platform this time because there was also a classroom up there.

The Okapi was trotting in circles too which Finn loved.

Another new tradition with the post lunch kids in front of the pot o’ gold.

I was so excited when this butterfly landed right in front of where I was standing.

I was really admiring the lions when that butterfly had happened past. This guy saw me and gave up quite a few poses for me. Thank you sir.

Of course we made sure to be over near the chimps and the gorillas for feeding time. The boys had even more questions today and even answered a few of their own. This is JJ and his daughter Alice getting ready to have some snacks.

We ended the day once again with some dippin dots and home we went. I being tired forgot to get a dippin dots picture today sorry. I was too busy capturing images of the flamingos/

So what is your favorite thing to do at the zoo?

We went to the Zoo

Posted on June 20th, 2012 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

Yes this is another post that happened back in April. It was so much fun. Lexi, Aidan & Jack went with Tia Diana with her to work at the Discovery Channel. So left with just Rory & Finn we headed to the Zoo! My Mom had gotten us an annual pass as part of our family holiday gift and we had yet to use it. Had I realized before hand just how big the zoo here in Miami is things may have been different but we had an amazing day. 

The boys wanted me to take their picture before we even went in the gate with the peacock. The really loved all the little animal statues through the park and made it a point to pose with every single one and because I think they are totally adorable I took pictures. To be kind I’ll just post a gallery at the bottom and add just my favorite experience from the day.

After we had lunch I couldn’t resist taking a picture of Rory & Finn in front of the pot o’ gold.

We wandered around a while and happened upon the chimpanzee feeding time. He answered all sorts of questions from the boys and made a friend for life in Rory when they went in one of the caves and I didn’t have time to warn Rory it would be loud and he just reached out his hand and let Rory hold it. This is Rory’s hair and Finn’s hand next to JJ the gorilla’s foot through the glass.

The LOVE LOVE LOVED watching the gorillas get fed. Even more Rory really loved JJ and learning about him. Both of the boys even asked questions and I love that the zookeeper spoke to them and answered their questions without speaking down or dumbing down the answers. 

Finn was so excited to see the Okapi. I did have to stop him from trying to climb the fence he wanted to touch one so badly. I love that Rory was just as excited for Finn.

Then we fed some Giraffes, ok the boys fed the giraffes. Then Finn got licked by a giraffe which if you are 3 was the most hysterical thing that could ever happen.

We ended the day with some dippin dots for the boys and a cold water for me. It was pretty awesome it was the first time they had ever had them and it totally won me mom of the year in their eyes!

Stay tuned for our next adventure.

Lexi’s Hunger Games Inspired Birthday Party

Posted on June 11th, 2012 in blog, family, Handmade MIami, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

 It was a busy week around here baking, baking and more baking for Lexi’s Hunger Games inspired party. I have never seen my girlie this excited about anything. I really loved being able to surprise her with this. I think one of the biggest surprises for her was our dear friend Diana also dressed up as Effie Trinket as Lexi dressed like Katniss on reaping day. Don’t they look wonderful?

If you have read the books you know that foods especially breads are discussed so much and play such an important part of the story so that is what I tried to recreate. With the help of pinterest and Fictional Food I found so much food inspiration.

Peeta’s Burnt Fruit & Nut Bread (left) and of course District 11′s crescent rolls.

Goat Cheese and Apple Tarts. Which were probably my personal favorite food.

I also made (and forgot to take  a picture of) the Lamb and Dried Plum Stew. I did just use beed but it was pretty awesome.

The first gifts Lexi opened were wonderfully planned because we can’t eat those wonderful Capitol foods and it still be reaping day.

A dress for the transformation into the girl on fire.

A dress for the transformation into the girl on fire purchased on Etsy.

Some makeup to complete the transformation.

The coal inspired necklace were from the ever lovely Lauren. you may notice there is no makeup on in this picture, well thats because I didn’t get a single standing picture of this dress during the party so I made  asked  her put it on the following day for this post of course.

We served food after this and with five kids I put down the camera which means there are no pictured of the orange juice with their cute paper straws and bottles or of the stew.

Then she opened the rest of her gifts.

Diana even brilliantly disguised her gift as as a tribute gift.

A Katniss inspired charm bracelet.

With extra charms inspired by her favorite characters & events also found on Etsy. You also get a glimpse of her new girl on fire inspired glitter ring also from Lauren of Jersey Girl Design.

I attempted to make Cupcakes on Fire from THIS tutorial. As you can see the fact that my kitchen was 84,000 degrees the odds were not ever in my favor for this one. They were still super yummy though and Lexi loved the idea.

She blew out the candles and made her wish. I hope it comes true for her.

At the end of the day we wished our friends well with some little treats to munch on the train their way home.

She is growing up

Posted on June 6th, 2012 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

I can hardly believe as I sit here and type this that my little girl is now a teenager. It seems like it was just yesterday that she was scurrying off in the store to hid under clothing racks, or climbing into my bed during the night. For a few weeks I’ve been planning a Hunger Games inspired surprise party for her, no easy task to do when she is my helper and home 24/7 but it was slowly happening. Unfortunately some plans fell through and she wasn’t going to have a sleepover where I could transform everything so I had to rethink my plan. That is when I had a brilliant idea. So this morning when my late sleeper girlie was awake before I was I sat her down at the table and gave her some very simply wrapped gifts. If you are a fan of the movies at all the twine used on the package was a mix of black, red & orange.

The first of the three gifts to be opened was the invitation that was sent to everyone else already. I had seen a few invitations on both pinterest and etsy however I only needed 1 to be printed and I was on a budget for this party so I designed my own.

Now my girl is in love with all things Hunger Games. I have never seen her this excited about something before she reads and rereads the books has seen the movie twice so far and references people and things in the book as much as she can work them into conversation. Add to that her love of vintage clothing and light blue being her signature color as she told me proudly when she was three and I knew I had to find her a “reaping day” dress. I lucked out on etsy of course.

Last but not least was the gift I’ve been teasing her about. She has been asking for weeks about her birthday and her gifts asking what she was getting if she was getting a mocking jay. I’ve been smiling and saying yes and that it was a real live mocking jay and hidden in my desk drawer.

Happy Thirteenth Birthday Girlie! May all your wishes come true!

Lexi being the amazing kid she is said I should use her birthday and have a sale. So use code CATNIP for 13% off and every order places until her birthday will receive FREE either a Pretty in Pink lip balm (originally created as party favors for her 10th birthday) or a small bag of Pretty in Pink Tea (made with my girl in the same year). Please let me know which you would prefer or it will be Lexi’s choice!

March Recap

Posted on May 30th, 2012 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

I know I know I said I’d never write one of these again but life with 5 kids is honestly a whirlwind and I feel lately like I’m constantly struggling to keep up with everything.

After Rory’s party things just kept flying by. Some pretty cool things happened though. I got a bike! Yup thats right I got a bike the kids and I were riding daily through our neighborhood, taking nightly walks and somehow I lost a bunch of weight, which is what inspired the bike purchase. Isn’t she cute? I have to admit this is the first time i’ve ridden a bike in close to 20 years.

Then one day Finn and I did something awesome together. We pulled out the herbs and he designed his tea blend, just like his siblings did. He was so proud and he loves to get out the teapot and put the herbs & honey in all by himself and have a cuppa or three because he likes to do everything in threes these days. It will be in the shop soon I just need to think of a name and get it listed. Do you have any ideas?

I also got my craft on a little at my husband’s request. You see he was going through the Coast Guard CCTI program and he needed a fancy charge book and always on a budget I said why don’t we make you one out of your old uniforms. In my head this was an easy task UNTIL he added on all sorts of requests like lets make it so you button it closed, and do you think it can have pockets on the inside and some other things I don’t even remember now that I’m pretty sure I vetoed.

A major thing that happened here which had been pretty awesome in most aspects is BRACES! Thats right BOTH Lexi & I went to the orthodontist and got braces. Its something I’ve always wanted to do and almost did once before as an adult and figured we could do it together. If I had known just how much is was going to hurt though let me tell you I would have probably skipped it, the bonus is I’m losing more weight because of it because well it hurts to snack/eat to I’m eating more smoothies and juicing and skipping that late night tv snacking.

To finish out the month Finn was looking through Jack & Rory’s old Main Lesson Books from when we were using Oak Meadow and he wanted an A gate picture too. What kind of mom would I be if I didn’t then read him the Story of Peter Rabbit and draw with him an A gate picture. Then for fun I posed all three boys together with their pictures so you can see how the different gates of our backyards have influenced my drawing. Please ignore the marker all over Finn he was fighting Zombies according to him.

I made another Quilt.

Posted on March 24th, 2012 in 101 in 1001, blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

I’ll admit it I caught the big. The quilting bug. Honestly though I made a quilt for Lexi what kind of a mom would I be if I didn’t make quilts for the rest of the kids too. I started back in January cutting out pieces for the boys quilts. Then because his birthday was coming I decided to complete Rory’s quilt first. Now remember back to Christmas Stockings in the December Recap, you see there was some reason to my madness of the different stocking styles.

I was lucky on this one because I had a couple pieces still left over from to get started. I used THIS Moda Bake Shop  tutorial from Amanda Jean over at crazy mom quilts for the Cartwheel Quilt. Of course I forgot to take any more middle pictures of the construction (because I don’t think like a quilt blogger…yet), so you will have to just take a little jump with me to the layout pictures when I was pinning his mini quilt.

Look its Ginger approved.

I was so proud of myself for attempting to quilt the mini all on my own! My first big project and I attempt to freehand stipple. Ignore the bad lighting it was night time.

I was so excited when the package arrived from the wonderful Tarabu with the finished twin size quilt. I ran right outside grabbing my camera along the way and tossed that baby over my lawn furniture and got snapping!

I LOVE how the quilting really brings it alive! Unfortunately someone noticed me snapping pictures and got a sneak peek.

Don’t you worry I still put it away for his birthday. I love that he was just as excited to open it as he was getting that first glimpse!

Later that night he talked me into putting it in the playroom and letting him sleep there for the night. Its so big and fluffy it nearly fits a full size bed!

Rory’s Rainbow Spectacular

Posted on March 16th, 2012 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

The planning for this party seemed to start forever ago! I asked Rory what kind of birthday he wanted this year and he excitedly told me a rainbow and unicorn party. I think easy enough and plan on a few decorations and to make the same strawberry cupcakes (note: I alter the recipe to have 1c pamela’s gf pancake & baking flour & 1/2c pamela’s gf bread flour) I made him last year because they were delicious. Then one day I start thinking about the decorations I saw on Facebook a while back of OhMeaghan’s Rainbow + Rollerskate party and dropped her an email which led to her rainbow pinterest board  and me following the links that really excited me and repining and adding to to make my own rainbow party pinterest board.

It started with a trip to the fabric store to get some fabric to make a little bunting. On the way home we stopped at michael’s craft just to peek and came home with the amazing rainbow ribbon and the flowers I later used as a center piece on one of the tables. On the way home from this trip we were talking about food for the party and he said “I hope you have enough cake stands for this.” cake stands really?!?!? who is this child so a discussion about the type of cake stands he wanted happened.

We continued to collect items and narrowed down the menu and ideas. This is when things get really interesting if you know me and know about all of my food “rules”. There have been no, none , zero zilch food dyes allowed in our home to the best of my abilities since 2003. We eat very naturally, organic as often as possible, few preservatives, even fewer “processed” foods, very little soy, at times gluten & dairy free and for three ish years now corn free after realizing many of Rory’s behavior and sensory problems were from him detoxing off high fructose corn syrup. I’ve been known to call it nightmarish because for me it is. I’ve been limiting, over bearing and controlling of what food comes in our home and more preachy than sharing and partnering with my children, This was blatantly pointed out to me not very long ago by Sandra Dodd I had mixed feelings about it but I listened, and thought why not?

The Invitations were ordered. Actually I fell in love with the whole set from the TomKat Studio that I ordered the entire rainbow party pack!

Preparing for the big day involved a ton of butter and baking and excitement by me for rocking a red velvet cupcake.

The day before the big party was Rory’s actual birthday. He started the say off with a mini birthday cake breakfast out on the patio. Rode his bike like Pee Wee Herman in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure his current favorite movie. We finished off the afternoon painting a a rainbow sign for the big day.

Then I put the kids to bed and the frosting started. Who knew frosting a 6 layer cake would be as both easy and difficult as it was. Each layer brought new excitement and fear. In the end it was slightly crooked but I am not a professional baker or cake decorator just a mom of a 6 year old rainbow and unicorn loving boy so this was good enough for me. By the time I finished frosting the cake and the 3 dozen cupcakes Steve was finished making the sandwich skewers so it was off to bed with us as well.

The big day was upon us. I put Rory’s rainbow sign by the front door and hung the Welcome sign and some rainbows from my TomKat Studio Rainbow printables.

I hung one of the buntings and the TomKat birthday banner on the wall behind where I set up the food table. I loved seeing the excitement on Rory’s face when I pulled out the rainbow unicorn table cover which was actually a little too narrow for my 8 foot table.

 I had standard fruit and veggie platters only I arranged them in rainbows as I had seen on pinterest.

I made a quickie tortellini chicken pasta salad and the sandwich sticks I fell in love with.

There were the red velvet cupcakes and strawberry cupcakes both gluten free.

This rainbow cake was all about me being outside my comfort zone first it was SIX layers, called for a TON of food coloring something I haven’t cooked with before this week since 2003 when I eliminated them from our diets at least from home, and I used fondant for the very first time that included corn syrup and yet even more dye for the decorations.  I pulled out my x-acto knife and freehand cut out the letters for Rory’s name ever thankful while doing so that he has a short name.

COOKIES! We had some kid decorated lemon sugar cookies (I used lots of lemon zest instead of orange), cinnamon sugar butter cookies, and RAINBOW shortbread style cookies!

To drink I made our family standard fruit punch (equal parts cranberry pomegranate juice and sierra mist you know because its corn syrup free and a splash of pineapple juice) and pink lemonade I don’t know why the color was so dark on mine but it tasted AMAZING! I supplied ice with a scoop in a rainbowish striped bucket and my favorite thing was the colorful striped paper straws. I put out mason jars in both pints and half pints to drink out of and its a good thing I have a lot of both.

The rainbow bunting and the pom pom & yarn garland were both hung on the back fence for a splash of rainbow color.

The balloons tied to rainbow yarn were brought out with extra pink for my pink loving boy!

With the arrival of our first guests (thank you Julie, Diana & Frances) we were able to get a picture of our rainbow dressed family I even got to have our unicorn leader sit on my lap! I really wish Finn wasn’t holding that balloon and you could really see his green shirt though.

We ate some food & opened some gifts.

Then it was time to sing happy birthday and blow out the candles. If you look closely or even not too closely you will see how butter creme, fondant and hot Miami weather may not be the best of friends as the polka dots were sliding a little bit. I also didn’t realize until about now that I forgot to put the little mini felt cake bunting on the skewers that were more structural than decorative.

I cut the cake and sadly realized the cake slices were too big for the adorable rainbow unicorn plates I had purchased for the party so we just used some boring non matching paper plates I had.

These amazing brilliant colors were totally worth the insane amount of food coloring needed to get them to see the smiles on not only my rainbow boy’s face but the faces of every other person child and adult alike.

At the end of the day the party goers were able to grab a gift bag filled with temporary tattoos & a stained glass mini coloring book (either unicorn or dragon themed), a unicorn swirled lollipop, a pack of crayons, a rainbow crayon & colored pencil and a sandwich size ziploc bag to fill with candy from the candy bar. I had filled jars with skittles, m&m’s, sunkist fruit chews, and little mike & ikes.

What surprised and saddened me the most at the end of the day was the little girl who didn’t fill her bag with candy but filled it with the leftover fruit from the fruit platter. I don’t know if it was dietary or if fruit was that big of a treat to her and I didn’t ask mostly because I didn’t want to embarrass her either way but I will now make sure when she is over to bring out some fruit.

It was a busy day because in addition to my own 5 kids there were about 15 added kids from the neighborhood at any given time (they just all started dropping in and at one point I panicked that we wouldn’t have enough food) in addition to 8 or so adults. I just love that I am STILL hearing from my own kids and party attendees how awesome the party was. Totally makes all the broken food rules totally worth it and not such a big deal at all in the grand scheme of things. When asked what he liked the most about his party he said everything he only wished that Brenna was there for it too because he really misses her.

I’ll update later on with links for all the recipes and inspiration posts and suppliers but for now I’m  going to have a cup of tea and watch my kids play in the pool because this post took much longer to write than I had anticipated.

February Recap

Posted on March 15th, 2012 in Baltimore Craft, blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

Woo Hoo this is the last monthly recap post tomorrow I’ll have just a regular concise post for you aren’t you excited? 

Early in the month I decided to restock our freezer with pancakes. What started as a couple batches of pancakes turned into making 125 pancakes 3 at a time in a pan on the stove I know crazy right? I started with plain, then was asked if I’d make apple, then banana nut, then I went crazy and also made cranberry orange, lemon blueberry and a savory tomato, basil & mozzarella that we had for dinner.

Jack received this new friend also named Jack from the amazing danamarie you can check out her work in both her greenstarstudio and mightMIGHT shops.

We went on a shopping trip to get some new clothes and Rory said he needed these sunglasses.

We played in the rain and painted.

Lexi got a guitar after so many months waiting. Remember this?

After the insanity of making all those pancakes on a pan I splurged and bought a griddle and waffle iron so we tested them out with  strawberries and fresh whipped cream and dinner outside under the moon on the patio.

   We had some great family time all together again with the kids really enjoying the pool.

Rory and Finn helped me plant a teeny garden late in the season for Miami but hey better late than never right?

Rory and I went shopping and started gathering supplies for his Rainbow Spectacular Birthday party.

We also got an Xbox and I have really enjoyed watching the kids play Just Dance! By the smiles on their faces I think they like it too!

January Recap

Posted on March 14th, 2012 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

I didn’t take a ton of pictures in January so you are saved from a post with eleventh billion pictures in it again. 

Lexi got a kindle and this was how we found her (and often still do) for hours on end.

Then I spent a bazillion hours on the couch watching the 1st season of Game of Thrones and part of Homeland and talking with my Dad who was still visiting while I knit Jack up this new friend from this pattern.

Then even though it seemed like we had just gotten healthy again we were all sick again. BOOOO.

We became obsessed with brussel sprouts. Our favorite way to prepare them a little butter & oil some sautéed garlic and bacon bits. We are currently going though about 6-10 lbs of sprouts per week because we love them so much.

Then I cut fabric for quilts for the boys! I was so excited Finn’s is so fun! Jack’s is so orange. Rory picked out most of the fabrics for his by himself I was so proud. Aidan’s is blue blue blue. Its actually quite hard to find blue quilters cottons not in florals who knew?

I brought the kids to the dentist. It was Finn’s 1st time he did really great! Rory and Aidan were paired and Rory was able to ask the hygienist 84,000 questions during Aidan’s cleaning before it was his turn. I’m pretty proud I brought all five kids to the dentist and we walked out with ZERO kids with cavities! I also walked out with appointments for Lexi and I to see the in house orthodontist the following month.

To wrap up the month our mugs arrived from the wonderful Brenna (a different one) each kid got their own mug so they would leave mine alone! Rory also added this beautiful tea pot to his collection he named her Cassie.

December Recap

Posted on March 13th, 2012 in blog, family, Handmade MIami, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

For as busy as November was December was even busier! I hope you enjoy pictures! 

December started with a revamp of all the body butter packaging.

Then came my last show of the year with the West Elm + Etsy event. I had a blast stepping outside my box display wise and using props from the store.

Then because Rory had gotten his cast off he was ready to start riding his bike. Finn couldn’t be out done so was happy to play on Jack’s scooter.

Then I had the kids paint some wood cut out birds as decorations for our tree as I didn’t think glass ornaments and hard tile floors would get along well. The kids decorated the tree and we were lucky to have Steve home to hang some lights on the outside. Even if the weather was 70+ it was beginning to feel a bit festive.

Lexi with all her culinary skills made us some fab chicken stir fry one night for dinner.

After the ornament painting the boys were on a painting kick.

As a special request I made some just plain scented bath salts.

My poor mail carrier this is what she saw on a pretty regular basis through November and December.

We decorated some gingerbread houses.

Jack turned 8! Can you believe it EIGHT!!! Pirate themed and an ice-cream cake!! All he wanted for weeks before was a cat so we searched for days on craigslist and scored this sweet little girl he aptly named Mason.

Then it was the first night of Chanukah  and Steve said the blessings for us over the phone and we had amazing sweet potato latkes which I forgot to get a picture of.

Then I decided to take on the insane task of making everyone in the family stockings. Not just any stockings stockings that would match their quilts to come in the future. So now just a week before Christmas while still packing and filling orders I had to nail down color schemes and actual quilt patterns for at least 5 people. Lexi’s actually used leftover pieces and an embroidery square from her quilt. Jack’s was actually easy I knew he wanted an orange zig zag.  Rory would want pink, Aidan blue, and Finn green, but to find patterns to match their personalities was hard.  In the end I think they came to great.

 My crafting actually inspired Aidan to get his craft on too!

On Christmas Eve we were invited over to a friends home to celebrate Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) the food was AMAZING!!! There was mojito pork, rice, beans, fried plantains,  Tres Leches Cake and great friends! We had so much fun and like we belonged! THANK YOU Frances, Julie & Families!!

Then we hurried home to unwrap our traditional Christmas pajamas and climb into bed! If you look closely Aidan & Steve have matching pants.

Then we woke up and opened up some fun presents. That apron Lexi is holding up and the bedside organizer Steve is holding up those were made by Aidan back when he got his craft on. That tshirt I got Steve was really an joke because at EVERY show I do I get asked at least once if when I make soap if it is like the scene in Fight Club.

Then one day I finally followed my kids out with my camera to catch some shots of them all riding their new bikes they got earlier in the month for St Nicholas Day.

We wound up both the month & year with a visit from my Dad and a little New Year’s Eve swimming.

Recap of November

Posted on March 12th, 2012 in blog, family, Handmade MIami, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

Remember when I was posting how thankful I was for my kids at the beginning of November because I got really sick. Yeah well STAYED really sick for about 3 weeks. During that time some of my children got sick thankfully not as bad off as I did. I got really behind on orders in Novemember too and I’m very sorry for that, things that should have gone out in a couple days were taking upwards of a week because I just couldn’t be upright that long and I grossly underestimated the time it would take.

We were also really excited to welcome my husband home for a while.

Ok so thats where I left off with this post I started you know 4 months ago.  So here is how we will play this now a picture tour. Be prepared this will be very picture heavy!

We Start with a little haircut by Rory notice how you can actually see scalp in places. Oh boys!

I was starting to feel better (or so I thought) just in time for the craft carnival  so off I went. I am soooooooo grateful to Brenna & Lexi who held down the fort and brought all unsold items safely home when I had to leave early because I didn’t feel good. I really couldn’t have made it through without you guys LOVE YOU!!!!

I left my iPad with the girls to use the square if they needed to a while later I found this little gem of a picture Brenna left me with (thanks kiddo).

In between much napping and trying to get orders packed I also started working on this little knitted Okapi for Finn’s 3rd birthday.

One night Lexi made us some AMAZING rice & beans and we got Aidan to try an olive.

We also Made some Charleston She-Crab Soup! YUM!!!

The Holiday Limited Edition Soaps came out in their Fancy new packaging!

After what seemed like forever to Rory his cast FINALLY came off.

Finn turned 3! Can you believe it THREE! We started with a birthday boy breakfast made by Aidan & Lexi. Later in the day we had some crafts and presents and cupcakes! Three SERIOUSLY!?!?!

 Then I made some make your own Elderberry Syrup (I promise I will get better pictures and actually get them in the shops soon) kits.

 I took the picture for our holiday card which I might never have actually gotten printed OOPS.

Finn made his 1st pecan pie for Thanksgiving.

Rory moved on to pumpkin pie this year.

Jack moved on to apple pie.

Rory welcomed Lucy the cat into all of our lives.

November also saw us saying farewell to Brenna who moved back to CT. We miss you kid.

Hey Remember Me?

Posted on March 11th, 2012 in blog, family, Handmade MIami, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

Hi I’m Jenni remember me? I know just as I got into a good routine of blogging I all up and disappeared. I’ve been here I’ve just been extremely busy with the kids and life and making stuff and crafting. I’m going to do my best this week now that I have a moment in time to breathe to catch you up on all sorts of awesome but in the meantime I just wanted to drop in to give you a heads up that I’m still here.

A little glimpse of what I’ll be sharing this week

November saw birthdays,

new friends,

more new labels,

and lots of baking.

 December brought us another birthday,

holiday presents,

so many packages (thank you),

and lots of crafting.

January brought some fabric selections,

a soap making class,

and lots of cutting and planning for my second quilt.

February was all about making my second quilt and planning for March!
March brought Rory’s Rainbow Spectacular!

And all along a little of this has been happening.

So you see we have a ton of stuff to cover and I have yet to decide the order in which we go! I’m really really excited to share the birthday party with you but there are things that happened back in November that lead up to the birthday just know that somehow though multiple posts and an insane amount of pictures we will discuss all of the above and even more over at least the next week?

Have you ever gotten off track of something and wanted to get back on the horse? How did you go about it? What have you been up to all these months?

30 days of thanks… day 3

Posted on November 3rd, 2011 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

Today I am so thankful for the beautiful weather we have been having here in Miami. So that my children have been able to go play at the park in the afternoons to run some of their crazies out! I am grateful for UNschooling in showing me it is possible for 4-5 children aged 2-12 to go to the park and play together like friends and not just siblings.

Here is to my crazy ones!

30 days of thanks…day 2

Posted on November 2nd, 2011 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

Ha ha sneaking this one in there! Unfortunately for me I’m still very much thankful for Lexi and tea. I am also thankful today that salves can be made in a drawn out process giving me time to rest in between. I was so lucky to have lexi measure out the beeswax and cocoa butter for me , pull the essential oils off the shelves, and even get the containers prepped for me so I could melt then rest and update labels before I had to get up to pour them all. Then she even graciously just capped them for me as well so I could write this quick blog post.

I am so very thankful for the job I have as a mom and being able to make these products for you and in about 5 more minutes I’m going to be most thankful for my head hitting the pillow for the night even if I’ll be up 80 times because of this darn cold.

I can’t wait til I can write the post that I’m feeling better!

Good night

30 days of thanks… day 1

Posted on November 1st, 2011 in blog, family, homeschool, Lana Bella by jenni

Yes I know two posts in one day. I just wanted to say even though today I feel quite under the weather and have a to do list 84,000 things deeps that will never get finished I am thankful.

I am most thankful today for hot cups of tea with herbs thoughtfully added by my dearest lexi to keep my chest spasming down to a minimum and my voice from sounding like a 90 year old chain smoker all the time. I am so glad that she has been with me though my herbal journey and may not know exactly why she chooses the herbs she does but does so intuitively and from her heart and soul. Be on the look out for items in her own shop as well I know she has plans and much like me has so many ideas she is having trouble figuring out just exactly where to start!

Thank you Lexi I love you!