baby cradles

Here is a little baby cradle that Don made and I just realized I never did my show and tell.. whoops! He actually did 2 identical ones for some sweet little twin girls.


So sweet! I now want one for Boop, of course!!

i like being me!

So, the other day, my adorable son came up to me and said, "You know what Mom? I like being me!" This is one of those things that is really great for a mom to hear. Makes me feel like I am on the right track with this whole parenting thing, ya know?

So, we ended up postponing E's birthday party until my sister gets out here (in 5 days!) because we got a ton of snow and didn't think it was a good idea to have my mom and everyone go out in the cold.


But, I did make him a cake and we got to give him the most awesome birthday present (made by Daddy, of course).


Hmmm... What can it be?

A castle set!

With a king and queen..

And a dragon!

It is so cool, I mean really really cool!


Little sister loves it too!

There are plans for more pieces (a draw bridge, sentry posts) and other figures (a knight with a horse, a princess, a court jester). Can't wait to play with those, uh, I mean, give them to E!

Ok, that's all the birthday sharing. It's official, my son is:

lets start with the play kitchen...

We had such a wonderful Christmas!! I took SO MANY pictures, I'm having a hard time going through them all and decided which ones to put on here to share.. too much cuteness to decide.

I'm going to be working on that and doing lots of holiday show and tell this week, but thought I would start with a little more showing off of Don's awesome woodwork! I know there are quite a few of you out there waiting for pictures of the play kitchen, so here it is.





This can be modified in so many ways, a hutch added to the top, shorter in length, more space, etc... Isn't it pretty?!

a horsey stable

Another project finished up! This time for a horse stable for a horse loving little girl!!






Hmmm, starting to wonder if my "orders" for Christmas are going to get done... But enjoying seeing all of this anyway...(and getting some ideas for future things I'd like for Don to make the kiddos!)

a very cool, very large barn

Ta da!! My husband is so awesome! This barn was completed on Friday and I have to say it is really wonderful!

I have taken soooo many pictures, and none of them are quite as nice as being up close playing with it...

But here it is.
The beginning of, what I hope will be, a new career (and tons of creative fulfillment) for my sweet, hardworking husband.


A view of the inside...

E peeking in... (it is really big if you can't tell)

If you are interested in having Don make something cool for your little ones, please send me an email (happydelz-at-comcast-dot-net). He is all booked up for Christmas, but we are starting to take some orders for January. I'm hoping to get a website and stuff ready by then also... (which I will, of course, keep you posted about here).

what working should be like

So E asked me yesterday,

"Mama, what are you doing?"
"I'm working on something."
"And what is Daddy doing?"
"He's working in his shop."
"My family likes to work!"
"Yeah, I guess we do, so long as we like what we are doing!"
"Hmm, well, I like to work also!"

Yes, we have been busy little elves! I am spending a good chunk of my days in front of my sewing machine..

With a couple of little helpers, of course!
See her with the paint brush already? That's my girl!

And Daddy has been busy making all kinds of woody goodness!

Which, by the way is a super cool thing to share about!

For about a year, we have been talking about how fun it would be to make and sell handcrafted wooden toys. Don LOVES food and cooking, but his real passion these days is playing with wood. So, I asked a bunch of my mom's group friends if they wanted some handmade Christmas toys made for their little ones. And quite a few people said yes! So, a new business is born!!

Don is so so so happy spending his days covered in sawdust and money is not quite as tight as it was looking 2 weeks ago. Yay!

Not sure what the future looks like still (do we ever really know anyway?), but life is good and we are feeling very blessed!

I can't wait to show off what he is working on! Really awesome stuff!

made with love

After my crafting catch up post, Don asked where the pictures of the rocking horse were. I totally forgot!!! (I'm so bad.)

One of Boop's birthday presents was this ADORABLE rocking horse, made with love by Daddy!

He wood burned the mane and some other decorative features on it...
Pretty lucky little girl, if you ask me, to have a daddy who takes the time to make her something special just from him...
And here is a super sweet picture of the two of them together. He puts her to sleep every night and often gets lulled to never never land at the same time...
I love my husband so much!