~ our gnome fire ring craft ~

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Today marks our 8th anniversary of marriage!

I'm grateful to have a wonderful partner to share this life.

One of our favorite activities

has always been sitting around a fire.

Warm feet, cold backs, 

we sit there for hours,

watching and listening and talking.

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Thinking about that today, 

my mind wandered  to our little gnomes*, 

made at our Waldorf co-op,

and decided they needed a fire ring too!

My girls are finally at an age where

we can have a little nature display, 

so it felt like the perfect time to nurture 

their newfound love of scene-play.

I started by cutting out a small circle from corrugated cardboard 

(using the lid from a yeast jar as a guide)

and we all collected tiny rocks and twigs.

Then using flatter pebbles and hot glue, 

we pushed the rocks just inside the layers of cardboard.

This helped to keep them in place.

Notice how the girls saw fit to color with pokeberries?

They are abundant around the yard now, 

and the mockingbirds love us for it.  

Once the outer ring was complete, 

we started putting dots of hot glue for a second layer.

I let the glue dry slightly for the inevitable burned fingertips.

"Suck your fingers like Laura and Mary did," chided Lela.

When the second layer was finished,

we filled in the gaps with even tinier pebbles.

With the basics of the ring made,

we started working on the fire.

I took little bits of wool roving in oranges and yellows.

Liv took her turn needle felting the wool

into the shape of a blazing fire.

With a big blob of hot glue, 

we smushed in our fire.

The gnomes quickly crowded around!

Using some Tacky Glue and my pinky finger,

I made a thin spread around the fire,

and the girls sprinkled dirt to cover the cardboard

as well as gaps around the rocks.

We tapped out the excess, taking care to keep dirt out of the fire.

More Tacky Glue around the fire provided a place for arranging our twigs.  

Glue (versus hot glue) let us take more time to arrange the fire

and could be easily covered by more dirt.

The glue strings were fun to pick off with tweezers.

And once more the gnomes could gather!

What stories do you think the are telling?

We moved to our nature table, 

the top of a small bookshelf that holds other nature goodies.

We all enjoyed setting up a little scene 

with the gnomes and their new fire ring.

 I think this is the start of some wonderful scene-play for us!

And the beginnings of a sweet little nature table.

~carrie~

*p.s.  These gnomes are from the tutorial by Wee Folk Art!

~ ocean ~

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Earlier this month, 

we camped at Huntington Beach State Park 

in South Carolina.

The very first morning,

I took Liv and Lela to watch 

the Sun rise over the Atlantic.

We had a full day on the beach,

and with plenty of natural, marine-safe sunblock,

no one was burned.

Laurel enjoyed the more shallow spots.

Lela had the greatest time!

 I promise that,

even though not represented in these pictures,

we did have Olivia with us.  

I got some cute ones of her 

that I'll share later.

I felt like I was doing good to get these up.

~carrie~

~ life with twins ~

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I had to laugh when I saw 

these sequence of pictures 

from our third day in Virginia.

It pretty much sums up 

what life can be like 

with two 3 1/2 year olds.

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Here, you can see Olivia strategically placing 

the bowl of potpourri in Laurel's lap.

Laurel positions her legs just so.

~ "Hmmm, Laurel, you hold this bowl of Gran's potpourri." ~

Now, they coordinate their movements so that,

to the untrained eye (or gullible parent),

it looks like the bowl tips right over.

Don't believe me? 

Look at the excitement on their faces!

~ "How did THAT happen Olivia?" ~

Now, each twin reaps the reward

of picking through the pile for treasured bits.

~ "We are so clever! ~ 

I love these girls!  

Having twins is a lot of fun!

~carrie~