Month: January 2011

  • This Moment

    Inspired by Soulemama

    {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

     


  • Keep on Keeping On

    "But in parenting, even what we thought and did yesterday that "worked out well" then, is not necessarily going to help today. We have to stay very much in the present moment to sense what might be required. And when our own inner resources are depleted, we have to have effective and healthy ways to replenish them, to restore ourselves, without it being at the expense of our children."

    Everyday Blessings The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting by Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn

  • Yarn Along

    Inspired by Ginny at Small Things

    Yesterday I cast on and frogged the hat pattern I mentioned in last weeks yarn along post. Apparently that yarn did not want to be that hat. So today I think I have found an alternative pattern.
    I'll keep you posted on how that goes.
    The former hat had cables in it and while I have worked with cables before apparently my brain did not remember it as well as I thought. So, thankfully I had my stitch'n bitch book to refer to. I was lucky enough to receive it as a birthday gift from my friend Carol.
    My other read, that arrived yesterday from my friend Dana, is Everyday Blessings
    I wanted to borrow it from someone after finding a link to their list of "12 exercises for Mindful Parenting"; Dana was nice enough to gift me with a copy. :) Not pictured is the third book in the Percy Jackson series. I finished the second book. I'm really enjoying reading these along with my 12yo. It is fun to discuss books with the child who used to cry "Not chapter books" when she was younger and I was reading to her older sister. She was never forced to listen...she just did not like the absence of pictures. And if she did not like chapter books still that would be fine...but I'm glad she does.

    Happy Wednesday!

  • I could have said no

    but I didn't. Instead, I moved the couches closer together and they had a blast.

    "Allow children to be happy in their own way, for what better way will they find?"--Samuel Johnson

  • This Moment

    This Moment

    Inspired by Soulemama

  • Yarn Along

    While reading at my friend Pam's blog I learned about the

    Yarn Along at Small Things

    So here at this late hour is my photo. I am reading the Percy Jackson series with my oldest two girls. The scarf is the Harry Potter scarf I linked to in the "On the needles" post. Not much longer and I will be shipping it off to it's new owner.

  • Recycled Art

    Yesterday the little girls and I made our first Valentines decoration.
    Yes, it's still January but I love to decorate for Valentines day. I'm not a jewelry person or care about flowers but I have lot of fun decorating for Valentines day.
    I mean it is about love after all and what a better reminder than to have hearts all over your house??

    When searching for things to do I came across a cool recycled project.

    Here is what our process looked like

    The view from our window while we worked

    Icecream while we waited for the paint to dry

    And then I lost the kids after the ice cream. Or rather they decided reenacting the Strawberry shortcake movie they watched the other day was better than gluing on painted egg carton pieces.

    So I finished things up

    And then I learned what happens when you forget to put the bottle of acrylic paint away.



    So, find some valentines crafts to work on over the next few weeks, just be sure to put away the paint when you are done.

  • Flashback to December

    Since I missed the month of December I'm going to flashback with some pictures. It was a great month with friends and family. This year it will be filled with joy and no last minute handmade gifts.
    (remind of this post if it looks like I have forgotten come Dec.)

    First there was Christmas Tree Day

    Christmas #1 happened the week before Christmas when our friend Rhonda came to visit.


    Zoe with her Miss Rhonda

     

    Then there was gingerbread  house construction in all forms

     

    We welcomed winter and thanked God for bringing us through one season and into another and for extra minutes of light in the day.

    Christmas #2 was ours plus gifts from my family down south.

    And Christmas #3 was up north in the even more frozen tundra with my husbands family

    What's this? An empty pickle jar? It's what I always...wait a minute this isn't really my gift..is it?

    Brothers

    Even our dog Mazie came with us.

    Greatgrandma with Z

    Father and son

    All the girls

  • On the Needles and in the Works*

     

    So, what have you got on the needles or in your crafting line up? Right now I have a Gryffindor scarf on the needles and am about to cast on for a hat (scroll down and click on "cabled" on the left margin) for my friend Rhonda. I also have one bowl of a set of felted nesting bowls just about finished. Once those are done I am going to turn my attention to a shawl for my grandmother. I cast on for a shawl weeks ago but couldn't figure out how to follow the pattern after line 22 and was not liking how the yarn was working up.

    I firmly believe that you can choose a yarn and start knitting with it only to find that it wasn’t intended to be what you started knitting. Are you following me? I imagine it is similar to what a potter or sculptor might experience when they begin working with their medium. They may have one thing in mind but the clay or marble may have something completely different that it wants to be. The same goes for yarn I believe.

    Then there are my sewing projects. Tomorrow night Emi and I will go to the library to start on these http://www.purlbee.com/fabric-window-valentines/. We are having a mommy daughter date and she wants to work on sewing. The library is the perfect place to go because it is first and foremost free, warm and who doesn’t like to work on cool projects while surrounded by thousands of books??

    I also have a knitting needle case in the works which , if it is going to get finished, is going to require that I find a hidden sewing room supplied similarly to Anna Maria Horner’s where I can sprawl everything out(yes I said sprawl) and get it all done. I am actually anxious for it to be completed because the outer cover is a pieced quilt square that my great grandmother made years ago. As well as having a few or her sewn and crocheted pieces I am also blessed to own her sewing machine, a 1950s singer that sews beautifully and is in desperate need for a room all its own. I must confess that in the years that I have had it it has not produced the same flawless garments that my Nana made. From the stories my grandmother has shared I know she was an excellent seamstress. Her talent helped to take care of her six children, that she raised on her own, in a time that was not really kind to divorced women.

    Then there is my small canvas and fabric artwork that is in process. I have one canvas done and the other is 90% there.

    I also finished a scrapbook project last night as well but am not able to share any photos just yet. Once the recipient of the gift has seen it then I will share.

    So, how about you? What creative things are you working on now?

     

    *Just to make things clear.....while I have all of these going I don’t get to work on them everyday and when I do my house falls apart and that is just fine. Life is too short to not be creative. I promise that a clean house is not what gets you into heaven. If it was I would be SOL!

     

  • Update on our Fab Five

    Since it is the beginning of a new year I thought I would get back to blogging with an update post on the girls. I hope to be a better blogger this year since I have discovered that I do have family members that read here. J

    I will start with the youngest and work my way up to the oldest, just to mix things up a bit. ;)

     

    Miss Z

    •  Loves to watch Cailou
    •   Likes to throw the wet clothes into the dryer
    •   Is a great jumper. She jumps on the bed, the couch, from one couch to another...you get the idea.
    •   Her favorite movie is Toy Story 3
    • She will sit and let you read to you forever or until your voice gives out.
    •   Sings her ABCs
    •   Loves to count things
    •  If she asks you for something and you say “surley” she will say “I not shirly."
    • Wants to keep up with all of her big sisters.

    Ace

    • Has been the only child in this house to cut her hair herself and it acutally turned out cute once I even it up in the back.
    •  Loves to jump off of everything. She may be a stunt woman one day. I think that would be really cool.
    •  Dresses, dresses and more dresses.
    •  Afore mentioned dresses are best if they spin
    •  Even better if the dress sparkles
    •   Favorite color is drum roll............PINK!
    • Loves to paint
    • Asks every night before we go to bed “What are going to do tomorrow.”
    • Must be able to touch your skin when she sits next to you.
    • Taught herself to do a backbend.
    • Tells jokes  a lot.

    Emi

    • Lost her bottom two teeth last month
    • Is anxiously awaiting for her top teeth to come in.
    •  Just learned to tie her shoes.
    • LOVES to craft
    • Is  copying words from books onto any piece of paper she can get
    • Signs her drawings and paintings. 
    •   Loves to be read to.
    • Loves to dance to country music videos
    • Adores her older sisters

    Sisi

    • Will be a teenager this year!
    • Is hard to find sometimes because she is either wearing a camo jacket or is wrapped up in her camo comforter.
    • Is a gamer that likes Sims and Virtual Villagers
    • Loves card games
    • Is now 4’10.5” and is super excited about that
    • LOVES Mt. Dew
    • Wants horses one day
    • Listens to country music
    • Is a U of Michigan fan
    • Is a faithful friend
    • Is reading the Percy Jackson series

    Aly

    • Loves to watch Colbert, John Stewart and Bill O’Reilly
    • Has a great sense of justice
    • Is reading the Percy Jackson series and Mae West biographies
    •  Loves camo
    •  Wants horses one day
    •   Wants a truck
    •  Dyed her hair black
    • Loves country music
    • Still loves photography but on her terms
    • Is a faithful friend

     

    And all of them challenge me, in a good way, to be a better mom and friend. I am grateful to them for all the joy, insight, and honesty they bring into my life. I would not be the person I am today if it weren’t for them.