We Won!!

Well, actually the smallest member of our family did! Yesterday, I drove over to Camano Island with the little ones to pick up Forest's prize. On the way, we spotted a Bald eagle soaring overhead and a deer munching grass on the side of the road. Camano Island is a magical place! 

We waited until we returned home to see what was inside the bag. 

We can't wait to set up our bird feeder! We are thinking we may save it for when we move back into a house. 

Little House Love

Ever since the 2nd grade, when my teacher Mrs. Schommer read aloud Little House in the Big Woods, I have been in love with the story of Laura Ingalls Wilder. On a side note, Mrs. Schommer was one of my favorite teachers and I loved second grade! 

One Christmas, not so long ago, my mom bought me this collection of the books and 

this movie. While I do love the television series and all its cheesiness, I don't think it really accurately depicts the hardships her family endured. Then, one day while we were at my mom's house, I saw a few bits of Disney's The Little House on the Prairie and instantly loved it and wanted to see more. So, I put it on my Amazon wish list and Grandma Casey bought it for me! (Thanks, Casey!) It is truly a great movie and Sienna loves it, too. 

What actually inspired me to write this post is lots of times, I notice myself saying to David, well, what do you think they would have done in little house on the prairie times?   It may sound silly, but it is one of my favorite time periods in history to learn about. I can't wait to teach my little ones all about Western Expansion and the Gold Rush. All in good time, of course.

For now, we'll just watch our Little House movie together and dream about one day having our own little house. 

Snow Goose Festival

This weekend our little family ventured out into the chilly Winter weather to celebrate the snow goose and many other birds. After dance class, we headed over to the fairy trail we visited before. There was going to be a bird presentation from Sarvey Wildlife Care Center. The center cares for injured birds and other animals until they can be released back into the wild. Unfortunately, the birds that they brought with them will never be able to be released due to the inability to fly or catch their own food. They will always have to be cared for by people.

Forest was happy to go!

  Sienna was, too!

We made it!

A Barn Owl

Daddy and Sienna 

A Barred Owl

 A Peregrine Falcon

A Red-tailed Hawk 

 A Bald Eagle (Or a Bald-headed Eagle, as Sienna calls them.)

Opening his wings.

They also had bird arts and crafts set up for the little ones! Sienna made a pinecone owl and a few other fun projects to take home. We skipped dissecting the owl pellet, but plan to do this project at home when she is a wee bit older and can really understand the process.

On Sunday, we ate our delicious pancakes made by Daddy and then headed back to the trail to do the Bird Fact Treasure Hunt. 

On the trail together.

Sienna had fun following the signs put up on the trail. Daddy filled out our bird fact sheet for us with the information we found along the trail. When we completed the sheet, we all got raffle tickets to be entered in a drawing for some bird feeders and birding books. Fingers crossed, we will win!

After we left the trail, we had to stop off at Sienna's favorite park! We are lucky that we live so close by.

It was a great weekend full of birding adventures!

A Fairy Hike

Yesterday, David came home from work a tad bit early, so we decided to go on a little family hike. Last weekend, we stumbled upon a wonderful, free trail on Camano Island during our questing adventure. (Yes, it is questing time again until Sunday. We have our fingers crossed to find a clue ball!) We dressed very warmly since it is still Winter here in Washington. It was drizzling and a little muddy, too! Sienna has been on a fairy hunt during our recent hikes. 

The trail is quite beautiful with streams and I'm sure would be a fun hike during all of the seasons. There is an old barn near the trailhead filled with old things. Sienna did really well hiking, even going uphill, too. And well, Forest fell asleep about half way into the hike. We saw lots of scat and no clue balls. David did find a geo cache. We didn't have anything to leave, but we looked in it and then, put it back into it's hiding place. It was a very fun hike and we met a husky on the way back out.

At the trailhead, getting ready to hike ::

 Sienna brought her baby, Lucy along. Lucy ended up in Daddy's pocket, as Sienna found many treasures along the trail to take home.

Exploring the old barn and grassland ::

Daddy's geo cache find ::

 And, it's secret hiding spot ::

On the trail together :: 

Sienna explained to us that fairies like to sit on the mushrooms in the forest. 

Sienna took a little stumble and Daddy caught a photo of it.  

Our little nature lover, looking for fairies on the trail:: 

Homemade and Handmade with Love

This Valentine's Day, our little family shared a cozy evening at home with a homemade heart shaped pizza and homemade vanilla pudding for dessert. 

David surprised me with some flowers and a vase he made from wood, since we didn't have any flowers to pick from a garden. I made the love bird mobile for Sienna a few days before Valentine's Day.

And, Daddy surprised Sienna with a sweet fairy house he made for her. Sienna added some hand drawn bushes to the front.

The roof lifts off, so she can play in it and get it all cozy to capture a real fairy. She added some furniture from her fairy lodge.

I hand sewed her a blanket for her fairy bed and pillow with some fabric I had in my stash. Next, she requested pillows for the fairy sofa.

She even added some miniature pictures to the walls for the fairies.

It was a sweet homemade and handmade day!

The Garden Apartment: A Cozy Dining Nook

Well, hello friends! I am quickly writing this blog in the midst of doing more Valentine's Day creating with Sienna. (I will share all of our crafting goodness later.) 

Last time, I shared with you our living room and if you haven't already noticed I like our home to feel like our little family's own private sanctuary. We are home bodies and want our space to reflect the things we love and do.

In our dining nook, we have a pine table and chairs that were craigslist finds. My uncle, Mike, the mouse (as Sienna started calling him one day) refinished the table for us and stained it. When I was a little girl, I always envisioned having a pine harvest table for my own little family to sit around one day. Is that strange? I also wanted to have between 4-6 little ones. Hmmm...

Under the kitchen bar, we created a little play space for Sienna and one day Forest, if we are still living in this apartment. On the other side of the baby doll swing, there is a small broom, mop, and ironing board. Just in case a little one wants to help Mama with the chores.

To the right of the baker's rack, we have a chalkboard that I change monthly. I write the month and draw a little seasonal picture to surprise Sienna.

On one side of the bar is Mama's little mini office with my calendar, pens, and stapler. I love my Nikki McClure calendar that Aunt Jenn gave me for Christmas from my Amazon wish list. By the way, to those who do look at my wish list, I have been adding a ton of books on it, just to remember the titles of books I want to read with Sienna and Forest. I don't really want that many more books in my cozy garden apartment. ...Or do I? I do love books!

On the other side is guess what! Books! This is some of our cookbooks and a handmade wooden bowl that we keep our fruit in. 

On the top of our baker's rack we have Mama's recipe box that Daddy gave her for Christmas when we were living in the little house. I love the gifts he gives me ... when we have extra money to splurge on each other. On the top of the recipe box is my Sunflower Mama from Mountain Hearth Handcrafts on Etsy. I bought her with some birthday money from my Dad. I love the wall hangings she makes! I love the needle felted wall hangings, too. This is a craft I would love to try one day!

You may have noticed the little heart baskets hanging on our chairs in the first picture. These are for our Valentine's Day cards. Nana made them with Sienna on Sunday when she came over. Sienna and I put the handles on them and she decided to write our names on them and hang them from the chairs we usually sit at around the table.

This is our homeschool shelf. On the top is the nature table that I showed you a few weeks ago. On the lower shelves are various art supplies for creating. Above the bookshelf, I am planning to hang Sienna's alphabet cards since this is where we do our homeschooling. I already had them taped up, but they all fell down. So, next I am going to try some string and clothespins.

Lastly, we have two projects that Nana and I are working on. When my uncle refinished the table the original knobs broke off the drawers. So, Nana will be drilling holes in the drawers and putting on the knobs that I chose from Cost Plus. 

The other upcoming project we have planned is to recover the chair cushions on our dining chairs. They are quite comfy chairs, but are in need of a new fabric that goes more with our style. I can't wait to show you how it turns out!

Next time, I will take you to our kitchen! There might even be something baking to share with you...