family – Page 29 – Karla's Cottage

Cyclone

By Karla Nathan / May 24, 2017

Our girls were in a wonderful show recently, based on Oz, and titled Cyclone. Avahni was a Poppy.

Kia was a flying monkey.

They are part of an ariel troupe in KC, this is the first performance of it that I've seen, and I was impressed by the quality and professionalism.

And of course, I'm always smitten by any version of Dorothy's story.

And doubly smitten by my flying fairies.

Especially when I get to have the littlest fairies on my lap while watching the show.

Portraits from the past, thinking about Mother’s Day

family, paintings, puppies!

By Karla Nathan / May 21, 2017

I used to do a lot of portrait sketches. This was one of the very first ones, a charcoal pencil drawing of my grandma (Dad's mom) when I was 16.

These are colored pencil from a few years after the first. My other Grandma and my Mom. All of these pictures are on a shelf hanging in the stairway landing, in a grouping with other family pictures.

This shot from my wedding is one of my faves, it is the only picture I have of my mom and grandma together (along with my sisters and I).

The wall is a mix of paintings, drawings, and photos. None of the art is all that great, but it is sentimental to me. This watercolor is of a photo of my husband's grandma, Gladys, with one of her quilts behind it, and a gladiola in front.

The area is a quiet corner of our home, we rarely use the upstairs unless we have guests, or the grand fairies are sleeping up there. So, the mix of portraits aren't a focal point in our cottage, some of the frames are cheap and cheesy, like the one from the 80s on the drawing of my grandma, but the collection means a lot to me.

I take time to stop and look, sometimes will go upstairs just to think about the pictures and the people in them. Especially on Mother's Day.

Speaking of mothers- I can't leave you without pics of Honey and her pups, can I?

And of Twinkle, who has had her own share of puppies, wishes these babies were hers.

Mother’s Day

celebrations, family

By Karla Nathan / May 18, 2017

Our Mother's Day was a full one, with a cottage brimming with loved ones.

Miss Tree's mom, aunt, grandma, and dad, along with my husband's brother and many of his family joined our regular bunch of kids and grand fairies, for a pretty, spring day to hold puppies and feast on a big Mother's Day lunch.

I don't think those pups were in their nest for more than time to nurse, throughout the day.

Before everyone arrived, Sugarwings whispered an idea in PopPop's ear- they should mow the word,"MOM" into the field.

The O was even a heart!

Sweet, huh? I hope your day was special too.

Rainforest fairies

family, Travel

By Karla Nathan / April 17, 2017

The origin of our trip to Florida was to drop off Dewdrop to her mommy for Spring break. It grew from there, with heading to Disney for a couple of days, to my husband and Sugarwings both joining me while I waited for the week to end and to pick up our littlest fairy after her visit.

My husband travels a lot for business, and his points on Southwest add up fast. So, with the flying part free for all of us, we decided to make a special 10 days of Florida fun out of the trip.

I'd hoped to spend more time with our Gypsy, who now lives in Sarasota, but ended up getting some sort of bug while there, and having kind of a laid back trip while at the beach. We met up at Disney, and I arranged for her to spend a day there with her little one, then had another day together at the Botanical Garden.

Which was filled with laughs.

And rainbows.

Even though I was feeling a bit peaked, (and looked it) it was good to hang out with someone special that I see rarely.

And to see our littlest fairy so happy to be in her mommy's arms.

There is a fantastic, kids' area there, with drums and chimes to play, trees to climb, dress up things, swings, and a rope bridge.

Along with the gorgeous gardens and statues, that all made it an ideal spot to spend an afternoon.

There were pretty paths, benches in the shade, and a view of the bay. Plus a cute, little French Bistro with an outdoor seating area.

A beautiful day with beautiful company!

The Phantom and the Pirate

celebrations, family

By Karla Nathan / March 25, 2017

My life growing up in Indiana wasn't one where I was exposed to Broadway plays. I was 40 before I saw my first one, and it was The Phantom of the Opera, at a beautiful theater in San Fransisco. From that I was hooked, and I've seen a lot of other plays and that same show in St. Louis, NY, and now in Kansas City with my girls.

Sugarwings and her big sis, Avahni, the circus star, both love listening to the Phantom sound track and wanted to see the show as much as I did.

It makes me very happy to know that these kids are growing up with a head start on appreciating culture. I hope they are beginning a lifetime love of attending theater, and I'm glad to have a part in developing a love of theater.

We all got dressed up for a big Sunday afternoon out on the town. It was such a special event, that I even wore my Great Aunt Caroline's pearls. If any occasion called for wearing my best jewelry, this was it!

And Sugarwings looked lovely with her glittered hair style.

Dewdrop is not fond of plays like the rest of us. She was a bit too young for this particular play anyway, she stayed home with her daddy.

She didn't care for the local plays (Cinderella and Rudolf) that I took her to over the holidays, asking to skip on Peter Pan, so I gave her ticket to a friend.

I 'm taking a step back, and not forcing anything on her. I will give her some time and see if she'd like to try again when she is older. Making her sit still through a show she doesn't want to watch is not the way to get her excited about going with us.

Maybe next year, she will be more interested in attending.

For this trip, I splurged on seats under the chandelier. Every time I have seen this show, I've been way, way up in the cheap seats and thought to myself how cool it would be to be in the front for that dramatic moment when the chandy drops.

And it was certainly worth it!

Please keep checking back, I do have new stories pre-posted for you to read while I am away. Also, any orders from the Boutique will be shipped on March 28th. Thanks for your patience!

A shell fairy and a beach to “tide” us over

family, sea shell fairies

By Karla Nathan / March 20, 2017

In February, we had a benevolent blast of early spring. So Gorgeous (with a capital G) that we had to spend the weekend outdoors. I cleaned the winter buildup of dust, dog hair, and detritus from my car, used a leaf blower to clear out the garage, and spruced up the yard a bit. Besides getting an early jump on spring chores, we also took a break and went to Clinton Lake to walk on the trails.

We walked thru a little bit of woods and got to the hill that over looks the lake. Normally, there is a limited muddy area by the water, but at this visit, the water was low and we had a wide expanse of beach to wander on. I'd told the girls that it was still February, and the water would be icy, and we didn't have dry clothes or towels with us.

They didn't care! The sun and the water were too much for us. We switched our walk from the woods to the shore, then it gradually became a wading, not a walking adventure.

The dogs kinda liked it too. And my grand fairies found a shell for me to use as wings for a sprite made of rocks.

We can't get enough of beaches in our lives and are going to be back in Florida for spring break (this post was written earlier and we are most likely on the white sand as this story pops up). Clinton Lake rarely offers a beach walk, and we don't get out there much in the winter anyway. What a lucky break in the typical Kansas weather! This much needed escape from winter was almost as good as a trip to the Gulf.

Well, almost.

But not quite. I'm thrilled to be taking the littles with me to Siesta Key again. And I'm sure I'll have plenty of beach photos from our adventure there too. (please excuse these small pics, I didn't have a camera with me, and was using my husband's phone. When I sent the pictures to myself, they became compressed)

Please keep checking back, I do have new stories pre-posted for you to read while I am away. Also, any orders from the Boutique will be shipped on March 28th. Thanks for your patience!

Aerial Twister

family, Sacred Circus

By Karla Nathan / March 8, 2017

The circus apparatus in our house gets a lot of use, more than I ever thought it would. I wondered when we added it, if it would be an eyesore. But it ties back tidily when not in use, and is not problem. It also has been rarely tied back, because we had the whole family living with us for a couple of months when they were home shopping.

So, there was always one grand daughter or another swinging from the ceiling. I even used the silks for some aerial yoga to strengthen my bad back. And it was helpful.

The family has since moved out into a home of their own, and my house seems pretty quiet. I miss days like this when the girls were making up their own version of Twister.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

celebrations, family, holiday decor, We're having a party

By Karla Nathan / February 14, 2017

This is one of my favorite days of the year! It is also the anniversary of the day my husband adopted our boys, so we have made this an anniversary celebration with gifts and parties, instead of the traditional romantic day you'd expect.

This year, between the work schedules of our group, Sunday night was the time everyone was free for the bash. (hmmm, maybe I'll get a chance for a traditional, wooing type Valentine night since our family gathering was earlier?)

At first we were worried that we'd have to cancel, because Dewdrop had been sick. She felt better that day, but was still spotty from a rash.

We kept her busy making Valentine cards and decorations all day while watching movies and resting. She was up for the party and ready to celebrate when dinner time came.

She did have to sit out on the food prep, tho.

Sugarwings made the sliced tomato and mandarin oranges hearts for our salads. She was also in charge of table setting and decor.

After my mistake of over doing at Christmas time, I was smart enough to cook the day before for this party. I'd made a bunch of lasagnas, vegetarian, vegan, and less veggie for the little kids.

That way, I could just pop them into the oven, no worries, no work. I was able to enjoy the day with the kids, being crafty and hanging out. And I wasn't frazzled when it was time to sit down and enjoy the meal together.

We even had time to plan a surprise for the family. I climbed up on the arm of the sofa, and Sugarwings passed handfuls of confetti to me to put onto the ceiling fan blades. The girls were also kind enough to share some of their lace paper doily hearts from the craft supply box.

After dinner, before cake and gifts, everyone gathered in a circle to hold hands and sing "Family Together", a song my husband and the kids made up. I made an excuse to go hit the switch and the confetti floated down on the singers.

If I had it to do over again, I'd use much, much more confetti. But this is one of those things that would be hard to repeat. Everyone would see it coming and there couldn't be a big surprise again.

Unless I could fake out someone on a birthday, by having the blades loaded and casually saying something like, "would you please get that cup from the living room for me?" and hitting the switch as they walk under? Hmm, hope none of them read that….

It was all a big hoot, and if you watch the little video, you can see just how crazy and ramped up it made the kids much the kids loved the prank! It is posted on my FB page.

Best wishes for a fun Valentine to you too! From the little joys to the grand gestures, the sly smiles to the big grins, it's all about the love and about sharing that love with the ones you care about.

edit- I've added the video for you here:

Fairy cards

fairies, family, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / January 4, 2017

The week before Christmas, I squeezed in a smidgeon of time to make a few cards to send out. Not many as I would have liked to create, but enough to bring me a smile from getting my fingers gluey and glittery and to send to my sisses and my husband's moms.

For the great grandmas in my grand fairies' lives, I printed this happy picture from the punkin patch onto matt presentation paper. The hands had been cropped out, but I figured I could make it work. I cut out the girls, leaving space to add mittens for Dewdrop and one for Sugarwings, but she was missing a lower arm too. So, I layered the pictures on the card to position her missing arm under her sis, making it look like a hug.

They do a lot of hugging, so that was a fitting fix.

To remove the Happy Halloween feel and add some Merry Christmas cheer, wings, scarves, and hats were added, then the fairies were glittered up and colored with markers and gel pens. On this card, I added lace, and glued them onto a sky blue piece of card stock. At the bottom I smeared on some of that crafty snow paint that comes in a jar. Then drew snowflakes with a white gel pen.

This card for Bobbie was done in a similar way. We were wearing mermaid shirts in the photo and Sissy was holding a little mermaid figurine. Which were cute as a beach photo, but not what I wanted for a Christmas card. So I used markers to draw poinsettias on the shirts, and drew, cut out, and glued a candy cane into Sissy's hand.

The same photo from our Sister Trip to Siesta Key was used for Sissy's card too, but done in her favorite color of sea blue. I covered up the mermaids with a silk rosebud, glitter, a rhinestone and a mini tree.

ps-For some reason, my [printer is not feeling well. All of the photos I used weren't as clear as I'd like them to be. I've gone through the fixes on the toolbar of the printer, but I still get lines and less detail than there should be with high quality paper. Hmm, I'm not sure what is going on, but I used the photos anyway. The quality bothers me, but I hope that the joy I felt while creating still comes through to the people I sent these to.

Holiday Mom-style Stress

celebrations, Dew Drop, family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, Sugarwings

By Karla Nathan / December 30, 2016

What was the best part of your Christmas?

Mine was these smiles. And lots of them.

The grand fairies seemed over joyed with all their gifts (even though Dewdrop didn't get the two front teeth that she needed).

We were blessed with multiple celebrations starting with a Solstice party on the 21st, then our big family dinner and gifts to each other on the 24th.

On Christmas morning, we checked out what Santa brought, then had a big, buffet, brunch-bash with relatives.

With a table set for TWENTY THREE! (Did I mention how much I love my newly enlarged space????) We snaked three tables through the kitchen into the living room, and all seemed to fit just fine.

I'd had planned to set the table and make it fancy, but I was lucky to even get food done. So, everyone had to get their own forks and plates and drinks, which seriously, no one minded, or noticed. There is only so much time, and I overestimated how much time I had.

Which brings me to admitting that I over extended myself right along with the tables.

Which I think is pretty typical for the mom of the family to do.

After prepping all of the big meals, I was done in.

I loved, loved, loved, the family parts and the holiday traditions, of the weekend, but I have to say that I didn't enjoy fixing all of the food. While trying to please everyone and make sure they all got their favorite things, making vegan, vegetarian, meat lover, and gluten free versions of the foods, I forgot to keep my Christmas spirit. I got tired, I got cranky, I got resentful that I didn't have time to decorate cookies with the kiddos.

I don't know if it was because I'd been ill this year and am not back to 100%, (a medicine that I am on for another month or so can cause tiredness and muscle aches) or if I'm simply getting older and slowing down, or if I really did over plan and do too much.

Or maybe:

I had shoes that were too tight.
My head wasn't screwed on right.
My heart was two sizes too small.

Cause I acted a little Grinchy while pulling it all together. I'm a bit ashamed of myself.

Yet, on the other hand, I sincerely, honestly love the holidays and it all means so much to me. I did make a huge effort to stay positive and loving with the grand fairies, but I think I grumped and grinched a bit too much with the older family members and really shouldn't have let that happen.

And no, even though Honey looks a little like Max here, I didn't force her into pulling a sleigh. I wasn't full on Grinch, just annoyed that the food preparation never seemed to end.

Like I said, it often is the way of many moms to stress out to make things perfect for Christmas. Normally, I can kind of roll with it and keep our holiday simple while pretty. This year, I'm not sure why, but it got away from me, and I was in over my head.

At least I learned a lesson. Next year we will do a simmering pot of soup instead of a full restaurant menu with enough food to feed a restaurant full of people. I have to be able to treat my family special while not forgetting about myself too.

Yes, I'll change the dinner next time, but there isn't one other thing I'd change, it was delightful to be with people I loved and there is nothing better than that.

(and the leftovers were pretty tasty)