Building Her House Wisely

Friday Flashback

2012-01-06T17:14:00.001-05:00

If you grew up in the 70's, you will remember the Sunshine Family dolls. I absolutely loved them. Of course I had to have a set (in fact, I had two) and some of the accoutrements that came with them. And I had to have the black version because my mother was a child of the 60's and there was no way that would have the white version. So, I had the Happy Family dolls. I loved, loved, loved them - Hal(the husband), Hattie(the wife), and Hon(the baby). I've been telling my girls about them for years and threatening to get a set for them. They have laughed and laughed at the thought of me spending hours and hours playing with a set of dolls like that (none of my girls played with dolls) and were horrified that I would even think of buying a set for them. However, they didn't have anything to worry about because who could get their hands on a set without breaking the bank? Of course, I didn't really spend a lot of time trying to get a set. In fact, I only remembered them every other Christmas and then I would make a cursory check on eBay. Well, this year I got lucky!

New Year, New Resolve

2012-01-03T12:42:00.000-05:00

There's nothing like a brand new year to make you feel new yourself. I love, love, love the beginning of a new year!Yes, in case you didn't know, I am one of those eternal optimists who looks forward to a new year - "out with the old, in with the new".So, I decided to begin with planning. I love the thought of it, but rarely follow through. So, my first order of business this year (after going to church) was to spend the next morning at Panerra Bread to treat myself to a morning out for planning and breakfast. But, alas, the best laid plans of mice and men . . .While I was out, one of my kids got sick so I had to cut it short. But I still got in a good couple of hours of planning and am even now in the process of learning all time-saving apps available on my computer to better help me manage my time.We'll see how it goes.

The Valley

2011-07-08T11:37:00.000-04:00

I had many plans for this summer as many homeschooling moms do. We keep mental (if not actual) lists of all the things we want to get around to during the summer months that we just don't have time for while we're educating our children. I had my list too, but I didn't keep a tight hold on it because I've learned that it's not good to keep too tight a grip on my plans and that I should always expect some type of alteration to them. This summer is no exception. While I had some plans and have actually been able to work on them - like my new etsy shop - I have had my "alteration" as well.

So, while I've been quiet, it's not been a lack of creativity or even inspiration, I've just run smack dab to the end of myself. But it's been a good thing as I'm reminded of by this prayer:

THE VALLEY OF VISION

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
the the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.

This is a prayer from the book THE VALLEY OF VISION - A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, and is actually the prayer from which this book is named.

Back In Again

2011-05-24T09:34:00.000-04:00

Wahoo!

It seems that my computer issues may be behind me (my fingers are crossed). I'm so glad to be able to get back to blogging. It's funny how many topics run through my head when I can't get online and then when I'm back on, I go blank. Obviously I need to ~~write things down~~ use the organizational apps on my iPhone more. The "man of my dreams" would be totally horrified to see me taking out pen and paper after all the money he's thrown into electronic equipment (haha).

So, what have I been doing?

Well, we just got back from a trip to the midwest to see relatives. We had a great time and while we were out there I picked up a few books.

Yeah, I probably overdid it, but they're all for a purpose. I'm loving them and now that summer vacation is here, they will get a lot of use. And for all you observant ones who are wondering about my quilting, that is still going. I'm quilting the Christmas quilt first but I don't want to share pictures until I'm totally done.

Okay, enough of an update for now. Hopefully (fingers crossed), I'll be back tomorrow!

Radio Silence

2011-05-22T09:54:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry that I haven't been posting lately. My computer is having problems getting into Blogger for about a week and while I'm able to post right now, I'm not sure if this fix is legitimate or just a make shift fix. I just wanted to make sure that anyone reading knew that I'm not neglecting you but I am having some real computer problems.

Mother's Day Recap

2011-05-09T18:51:00.000-04:00

Well, Happy (belated) Mother's Day to all moms.

I had a great day. It started with a great morning here in east Tennessee. We casually got ready for Church and still ended up getting there early (I love that it's easier to get to Church on time now that my girls are older). I wore one of two dresses that the "man of my dreams" got me for Mother's Day. I listened to a great message on being teachable and then after Church we all posed for this picture.

Believe it or not, that was the best part of the day because it is hard to get all my girls together for a picture.

After Church we were off to a piano recital. Yes folks, that's right, a piano recital. While I may not have appreciated it being scheduled on Mother's Day, it was such an incredible display of talent (no bias here) that I couldn't help but feel some motherly pride rising up.

Finally, after receiving a very special and sweet letter from one of my girls and a special dessert from another, we all headed out to dinner at Cracker Barrel. It was totally my choice. My kids were all hoping for sushi (my pick last year), but I really had a taste for catfish and some country style veggies.

Over all, it was a Great day! I hope that if you are a mom that your day was just as nice.

I also have more pictures to share. I finally got the pictures that were taken of my girls for Easter in the dresses that I made. Have a look:

Looking back at these pictures, I'm realizing why I was so tired last week.

Missing April

2011-05-03T12:15:00.000-04:00

I would say that I can't believe it's May already, but that sounds so overdone. However, I have to admit that April sped by me in a lot of ways.

It started out with a birthday. My "little guy" who is rapidly becoming not so little anymore turned 7 and I had the bright idea to make him a birthday banner. After all, everybody else on the web was making one, right? I wasn't sure how it would go and I thought a lot of the web tutorials were a lot more work than I wanted to do. So like the rebel that I am (ha,ha) I just decided to wing it using some leftover fabric from a baby quilt I made for him when I was pregnant, and here's what I got:

It was fairly successful considering that my "little guy" is not at all into robots and those bright colors. After being sufficiently grateful, he did say that next year he wanted his banner to be in camo colors, and more specifically, the black and gray camo colors. Ahhh, well.

So after the first banner, I ended up making two more (well three actually, since the second set was for two sisters) banners for friends.

By the time I finished the banners, we were heading toward Easter and I decided to make Easter dresses for my four teen daughters. Since we were taking a spring break from homeschooling and I wouldn't have anything else to do (HAHA - the caps to show that I'm really laughing hard), I just thought I would whip out four dresses in a week. Somehow it got done even though I still don't remember how. I'll have to post pictures later because I was too brain-dead on Easter to actually take pictures and they're all on "the man of my dreams" camera.

So, that is my poor, but true, excuse for neglecting to blog last month. But I still have a lot to catch up on and that should carry me through quite a bit of May.

I do have to say that I won't be missing the April showers that we got this year. My heart goes out to everyone in the south and the midwest who have experienced devastating tornadoes this past month. They have been in my prayers constantly.

Saying Goodbye

2011-04-19T18:30:00.000-04:00

So today I said goodbye to a friend.

I've known her for four years and she's taught me a lot over that time. I really enjoyed hanging around her listening to podcasts and audiobooks. Together, we made a lot of yarn.

Yes, folks, I'm talking about my spinning wheel.

I sent her to a good home where she'll have a sister to keep her company instead of hanging out in the corner of my sewing room that's been redesigned to make quilting easier. I'll think of her fondly but probably won't miss her that much.

Still Here

2011-04-18T21:53:00.000-04:00

I know it looks like I've just totally abandoned you all but I haven't. After recovering from my infection and oral surgery, I started on a big research project that I'll probably share more about later! I know, I know. It's really bad to keep secrets but I am still in research mode, albeit toward the end.

I'll post some more updates tomorrow because we're finally taking our spring break here!

What I Learned While Sick

2011-03-24T18:14:00.000-04:00

1. My girls can run this house completely without me.

2. There is an antibiotic that I'm allergic to (fun,fun)!

Sick Leave

2011-03-23T17:38:00.000-04:00

Sorry that I've been gone for the last few days. I haven't been feeling well lately, and found out yesterday that I have an infection in my gums (yeah, very yucky and painful). So, as soon as the antibiotics kick in, I'm sure that I'll be as right as rain.

Building My House

2011-03-15T08:29:00.000-04:00

The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom,
and humility comes before honor.
- Proverbs 15:32

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned why I entitled this blog "Building Her House Wisely" and so I decided I would explain that today. Proverbs 14:1 reads: "The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down." That verse always provokes me because I know that every day I am either building or tearing down. I also know that I am prone to the "tearing down" side of that equation when I am tempted to complain, sulk, overspend, be lazy, etc. (that list can keep going here). But today I wanted to share one way that I like to work on the "building her house" side. Every day I like to read one chapter in Proverbs as part of my daily devotion. I heard long ago that reading a chapter in Proverbs was beneficial for growing in wisdom, and since Proverbs has 31 chapters, that is roughly a chapter a day. For those who know me well, you know that this totally fits into my mindset and so I have incorporated a chapter a day into my routine. Since today is the 15th of the month, the verse above was taken from the fifteenth chapter. If you're reading this, I hope you take some time to join in and read a chapter.

A Funny Story

2011-03-14T10:20:00.000-04:00

Last Wednesday, my girls and I were discussing what we'd give up for Lent in order to prepare our hearts for Easter. My son, who is 6, was sitting with us listening and making comments about everyone's choice, and deciding that he would give up Math (for the glory of God, of course!). He asked me what I was planning to give up and I said, "I think I'll give up soda." He replied that that was crazy and then said, "you should give up hugging Daddy all the time!"

I have to say that it took everything I had not to laugh out loud!

Preparing for Easter

2011-03-09T10:08:00.000-05:00

Today marks the first day of Lent and even though I'm not Catholic, I do like the idea of looking forward to and preparing my heart for the highest Holy day of Easter. If you listen to Nancy Leigh DeMoss's radio show/podcast "Revive Our Hearts", then you know that she has started a new series called The Incomparable Christ based on the book you see above. I hope that many women, including myself, will be encouraged to look to Christ during this season as we remember his death, resurrection, and his coming again.

30-Day Challenge Update: I'm still going, but I haven't really been putting my heart into it lately. I need to spend more time studying the "man of my dreams" in order to really give sincere encouragement.

"Challenge"-ing Work

2011-03-07T19:26:00.000-05:00

No, I haven't been digging ditches or cleaning my house. I've just decided that I wanted to finish this quilt top in time for Sandy's Mystery Stash Challenge today. I just got the top (minus the lower border) finished last night. Here's another shot.

Sorry for the awful photo, but I wanted to get pictures of top this morning (in time to make the challenge) and was stuck with that awful shadow.

Challenge Day 7: I'm still going strong. I'm finding that I really need to find someone other than my kids to sing the praises of my beloved. I think I may have to give my mom a call! How are you doing? Are you speaking an encouraging word to your beloved? Are you saying something encouraging about him to someone else? Is it getting harder to keep it up?

Clearing the Air . . .

2011-03-03T14:34:00.000-05:00

One of my goals this year is to add more houseplants around the house. Actually, it's just to have some plants around the house. I didn't realize until recently that I don't really keep plants around and, considering the number of people around and that we're home all day long, we really should have some houseplants around. So, here's the start of what I hope to a "greener" home.

Challenge Day 3: I'm still on a roll. Happy hubby, happy wife.

March, Already?!?

2011-03-01T15:47:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's March already. Usually February moves slowly, but it seems to have flown by this year. And to top it off, Puxatawny Phil seems to have been correct in predicting an early spring. Now, I'm not complaining. I'm actually loving it but I have to say that I'm getting a bit distracted. Recently, while I was in the middle of checking some schoolwork, I ended up doodling/designing a quilt top to make with some fabric I'd bought a few years ago.

The fabric was part of a red and white strip set that I picked up cheap somewhere but didn't have the heart to ever throw it out or get rid of it. So, I sewed the strips into these blocks and now they have to wait until I finish the Christmas quilt because I'm determined not to start any more projects until I finish something.

As for the Christmas quilt. It's all pieced together waiting for its border.

I'm really loving this quilt!

Challenge Day 1: So far, so good! How are you doing? Did you say something encouraging to the man of your dreams today?

UpDate

2011-02-24T12:40:00.000-05:00

So Sorry.

I really didn't mean to go this long without blogging. So, how's the 30-day challenge working out for you? For me, not so good :(

I really should have planned better, but I took for granted that I've done this before and was making it a habit to encourage my husband daily. But alas - "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18 ESV).

Hopefully I've learned my lesson because I've decided to take another stab at it; only this time, I have a plan. That's right, beginning on March 1 (and all my friend know that I like to start things on the first of the month or the first day of the week) I will say one encouraging thing to "the man of my dreams" and about the man of my dreams to someone else. So, if you tried and failed, or if you didn't try before, join me in March.

On a happier note, I finished all the quilt blocks for my Christmas 2011 quilt. Take a look:

Blocking . . . and waiting

2011-02-09T22:07:00.000-05:00

So, I've finished all the knitting on the Alpaka Tunic and now it's being blocked. I'm hoping that it'll be all ready in time for Valentine's Day on Monday.

A Challenge

2011-02-05T09:12:00.000-05:00

I think that I mentioned before that I'm a big fan of Nancy Leigh DeMoss's podcast, Revive our Hearts. I usually listen to it everyday before starting our homeschool. Sometimes I listen to it with my girls if Nancy is exploring a topic that would be beneficial to them.

Right now Nancy is doing a series call the 30 Days of Encouraging Your Husband. She does this series every year and every year I am so encouraged. During this challenge, you must speak only encouraging words to your husband and then about your husband (to anyone else) for 30 days and then see what it does to your marriage. And isn't February just the perfect month to take that on? So, who's in?

Enjoy a Little Cake

2011-02-04T21:57:00.000-05:00

I know it's not the cake you're thinking of but considering the amount of congestion in my head today, this is the best cake I'm going to be able to make today. (In case you didn't know, yarn wound like this is called a cake of yarn.) These are four skeins of malabrigo in the colorway "Ravely Red". It does remind me of red velvet cake though.

These four skeins are for a wrap I'm making called the "Every Way Wrap". I'm hoping to finish it by Valentine's Day, but if it's not, then . . .

In other news, I've started the first row of my Christmas quilt. I sketched my design our first and colored it in, which worked out well because I saw some changes that needed to be made.

The Quilting Class, part 2

2011-02-01T11:01:00.000-05:00

As you know, I'm working through my own quilting class using this book: QUILTER'S ACADEMY, vol.1 - Freshman Year by Harriet Hargrave and Carrie Hargrave.
While I haven't been able to dedicate a scheduled time each week to work on this, I've still been able to spend some time every day or two to work through it. I think I mentioned that the book is set up so that you read through a few sections and then you have to apply what you read, each time working on a different quilt top. So here is lesson 2 which has taken me about 2 weeks to complete.

These are 3-1/2 inch strip sets with 3-1/2 inch blocks set in a broken fence post pattern. Remember, I didn't want to buy any new fabric and so I've used the textured fabric because it went so well with the Noah's Ark even though it did make the piecing a little more difficult. However, I think it still turned out well. It's 33x33 inches right now and I'm trying to decide what I'm going to do for borders.

Interruption

2011-01-29T09:38:00.000-05:00

My daughter and I were at Borders recently and they are having a great clearance sale. I found a few books on sale that are on my list of books to read this year (really, the next couple of years). I love to read fiction but it's really hard to find good fiction that doesn't make you feel dirty reading it. So, I was really fortunate to find these.

So far I've read the first book, LOVER'S KNOT, since it was recommended in a podcast and not by someone I know personally; and it was okay. It's a mystery that revolves around a quilt store which is why I even put it on my list. There is one mention of immorality in the book, but no details. Still, it's not going to be a book that I'll let my teen-age daughters read. Another thing about the book, which probably says more about me than the book, is that I found it hard to keep up with what day of the week that these events were happening because the quilt store seemed to open every day and nobody went to Church. I'm only sharing this because I thought it was an odd thing that I found it disturbing more than that the author made some mistake. But still, it just got my attention and then I couldn't get it out of my mind.

So, since I've finished it, I'm ready to pass it on.

A Whole Lot of Cutting Going On

2011-01-25T14:06:00.000-05:00

These are 3-1/2 inch squares that are going to eventually become half-square triangles before the day is over. The fabric is from Connecting Threads and is going into a Christmas quilt that I'm making for Christmas 2011 (fingers crossed).

The blue and white sewn strips are the first half of my second quilt lesson (more about that later).

Better Than I Thought

2011-01-21T17:27:00.000-05:00

I made this hat for my friend who is battling breast cancer. She is wearing one that's similar in style to this one but she says that that one is is a little scratchy. I'm really hoping that this one is soft enough because I think it's gorgeous!

The name of the pattern is Capitan Hat. I knitted with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky yarn in the color way "wheat", which I just happened to find at Hobby Lobby. I'd knitted this hat before but I don't remember it knitting up so fast as I knitted it in one day. But it could have gone so well because this hat is just meant to be for my friend, at least that's what I'm hoping!

Something to Listen To

2011-01-21T13:48:00.001-05:00

I'm always trying to get my girls to listen to classical music while they're doing their schoolwork. It's not because I'm trying to be a music snob but because they like to listen to music but they don't need to be distracted by words. We have listened to some jazz selections but now we've hit on something that everybody likes. It's a "new to me" genre of music called classical crossover. So here are some of our new favorites:

If you want to listen without buying the CDs, just go to Pandora Radio and type in David Garrett and you can listen to his music and music like it.

I Read Too

2011-01-20T12:23:00.000-05:00

I wanted to include a book update days ago and just didn't get around to it so here it is today. First of all is the book that I just finished, LIES WOMEN BELIEVE by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

First, I have to admit that I am a complete Nancy Leigh DeMoss fan. I listen to her podcast every weekday and if you are a Christian woman, this is like a 30-minute encouragement break every day. So, since you know how I feel about Nancy, it should come as no surprise that I love this book. Even though I was familiar with her messages regarding most of the topics in this book, it still managed to be a fresh reminder to me that my thoughts are not always aligned rightly with Scripture. This book addresses my thinking about God, myself, marriage, children, emotions, and circumstances and then gives Scripture texts to confront my wrong thinking with right thinking. So now I have my Scripture Memory program for the next several years. I would definitely recommend this book for every Christian woman.

The book that I'm now currently reading is DECISION POINTS by George W. Bush.

In full disclosure again, I have to admit that I really like George W. Bush. I mean, how could you not like him? (I'm not talking about policy, just the man) He's so NOT the politician. So, when his book came out in November I had to buy it even though I knew that I wouldn't get around to reading it until after Christmas. I have to say that I'm not disappointed. His book has a very "folksy" style and it reads like he's just sitting down with you telling you about parts of his life. I'm about a third of the way through, but so far I really like it.

And finally, two new crafty books:

VINTAGE NOTIONS

and HEIRLOOM MACHINE QUILTING

I just got these so I'll let you all know about them later.

The Coupon Book

2011-01-20T11:54:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the long absence. I really didn't mean to go this long without blogging but last week was the end of the first semester of our homeschooling and I had to send in grades and paperwork for my two high-schoolers. It's funny that even though I was up-to-date on all of my grading, it still took me a week to complete all of the paperwork and then catch with current grading. I feel like a need a vacation.

I have been able to get some "crafty" things done too. First, to bolster my resolve to be more frugal this year, I decided to design and make a coupon organizer. My coupons were bursting out of the cheap one that I got from the Dollar Store and I was thinking that I needed to buy a new one when the thought hit me that I should just make one. Then I had the second brilliant idea that I should just make it with scrap fabric and without a pattern. Now, normally I use a pattern for anything that I make but last Saturday I got adventurous and decided to just make it. (Hmmm, I wonder if I should just copyright that phrase right now)

So I grabbed some pretty blue paisley fabric along some matching green scraps. I cut the blue paisley into two 11x18" cuts and then cut a lot of 3x9" strips (if I'd been thinking, I would have make those 6x18" strips). I sewed the 3x9" strips together at the top and then placed them on one of the 11x18" cuts where I wanted the different pockets to be. Then I sewed another strip down the middle of the pockets, sewed in a handle, and then placed the other 11x18" cut on top an sewed them together pillowcase-style, turned inside out and whoola.

I forgot to mention that I added a flap at the top so that the coupons wouldn't fall out.

I really love it! It's so pretty and I love to carry it, but, if you've been a coupon-er for any amount of time, you probably already see my fatal flaws. First the flap at the top should go all the way down the length of the holder but I didn't have enough fabric and then my pocket holders should totally cover the coupons. So, for carrying coupons, this is a bust, but because it's so pretty, I decided to repurpose it and make it into a needle case. That is my plan for now, but I'm flexible. Maybe it'll become something else. We'll see.

Quilting Lesson #1

2011-01-09T23:30:00.000-05:00

The other day I mentioned that I would be starting my own homeschool quilting class based on this book:

What I didn't do was give any details about the book or my class. I want to give a mini explanation without violating any copyright issues because the authors definitely deserve their paycheck for writing this book. So hopefully the following recap of my little class will whet your appetite to purchase the book for yourself without giving so much info that you don't need to buy the book and I don't get into any legal trouble.

The book is divided into a number of classes that are supposed to simulate your freshman year of quilt-making college. The classes each have a certain number of lessons, some just reading and others that require you to sew. I completed the first two classes which consisted of lessons that needed to be read (mostly) and involved setting up my sewing space, purchasing good supplies, learning about fabric, and learning about seams (measuring, cutting, and pressing). There are a lot of good photographs to guide me through each lesson and class and then at the end of Class 130 (the third class) I actually started to put into practice all the former lessons and begin to sew.

I didn't want to buy any fabric since I have a lot of different fabrics in my stash to use for class but I did want to use something that was at least somewhat pleasing to the eye. So I found a fabric that I'd bought ages ago for my daughter who is a bird-watcher and used a solid as my "dark" to make the first sample.

These are the two fabrics after being strip-pieced:

Here they are in 5" blocks before being sewn together:

And finally, here they are all sewn up:

So far, so good! And I finished just in time for a hot date with the "man of my dreams"!

My Quilting Class

2011-01-07T17:36:00.000-05:00

I decided that this year I would take the time to really learn how to quilt. But lessons in a store are just not practical for me right now and before I look into on-line courses, I wanted to see if I could just learn from a book. That is actually how I learn best. So I bought this book:

It was recommended by Frances from the Off-Kilter Quilt podcast. Frances is an author and beginner quilter who also produces a very entertaining and inspiring quilting podcast so if you listen to podcasts, you should check her out.

But back to the book. . .

My plan is to spend two hours on Saturdays working my way through this book so that maybe by the end of this year, I can actually have a quilt or two done.

Afternoon Surprise

2011-01-06T10:18:00.000-05:00

This is what we saw outside our window yesterday afternoon. It's really hard to homeschool your children when something like this is going on.

One Done

2011-01-05T12:29:00.001-05:00

Today I finished my first knitting project of the year. These mittens are from a pattern called "Bella's Mittens". They are supposed to be a replica of the mittens that Bella (the main character in the TWILIGHT series) wore in the movie. I don't know because I never read the books or watched any of the movies, but apparently they are very popular with fans of TWILIGHT. So that is why I am giving these as a birthday present to a friend who loves these books and the movies. I hope she likes the color.

Couponing - a Resolution

2011-01-04T00:12:00.001-05:00

So today I entered the arena of drugstore couponing and it was incredible! Yep, I'm here to tell anybody who hasn't started doing that drugstore buck game that you really need to give it a try. There is nothing better (well, there are a couple of things that are better) than going into a store, buying more than you would normally buy and spending less when you come out at the end. Of course since this was my time, I don't think that I was strategic enough but I'm really excited now about doing this again. Believe me, it makes regular household shopping a lot more tolerable when you see at the bottom of your ticket that you saved $35 when you spent $30. Next time, I'll post of picture of my loot, but today I just forgot.

So, there goes progress on another resolution.

2011-01-02T20:34:00.004-05:00

Today I'm starting my first project of the year and also working on those New Year's resolutions. I'd decided that I wanted to be more of a giver this year and so I set a goal of giving one random gift each month. I think I must be trying to be an "over-achiever" this month because I already have a plan to send some coffee to my mother-in-law, but then I remembered just this afternoon that I wanted to make a pair of mittens for a friend who is having a birthday next week. I actually wanted to make these for her last year but never got around to it. So, in whole spirit of the New Year, I started the mittens and that is what you see above.

Welcome 2011

2011-01-01T09:39:00.003-05:00

There's nothing like sparkling apple juice for ringing in the New Year with your family.

New Year, New Blogging

2010-12-31T21:33:00.002-05:00

I love to start things at different times of the year, like the first day of the week, the first day of the month, the first day of school, etc. But the very best day to start anything is always on the first day of the year. So, to prepare to begin anew with this blog, I'm posting today just to start getting my feet wet again.

Hopefully, I can keep myself in gear this time and be faithful to journal all the ways that I am building, or not building, my home wisely.

Made From Scratch

2009-04-08T10:30:00.003-04:00

I finished reading this book the other day and am now able to give a review.

This book arrived on April 1 (one day earlier than the estimated delivery date) and I immediately loved it. But it was for a very superficial reason. the pages are all irregular, like they had been hand cut and then sewn in. I have to say that I'm a sucker for the "handmade" look and I immediately fell hard for this one so it may have colored my opinion, but I don't think so.

The book is arranged by chapters, with each chapter including first the author's experience and then a small amount of factual information based on the chapter topic. For instance, chapter 1: Chickens first tells the author's story of how she came to start her own flock of chickens and then gives some very basic information about chickens and how to start a generic flock of your own. The other chapters deal with gardening, beekeeping, cooking, collecting, sewing and knitting, and other topics that lead to enjoying a "handmade" lifestyle.

I actually enjoyed reading this book. The author was both candid about and entertaining at the same time. She was also able to share enough generic information to allow the reader to determine if he or she wants to continue learning about how to live the more "handmade" lifestyle. There's also information in the chapter called Research, Son for those wanting more information after reading this book.

I think that this book has to appeal to everyone who reads it simply because anyone who reads it is obviously interested in living making things and living a "simpler" lifestyle. (Was that sentence a run-on?) I mean, the author is really preaching to the choir. But even if you're not going full scale and purchasing a homestead in rural Idaho, there is something in this book for everyone, even if you're living in a city subdivision like me. For example, many city-dwellers can keep bees or start a garden and anyone, no matter where you live, can teach themselves to play an instrument or sew and knit. All of these topics are covered in this book in an honest and engaging manner. So, if you're like me and just have to take on another hobby or have to try to make everything from scratch, this is a hands-down, no-brainer. Buy it or check it out at your local library and you will not be disappointed.

Latest Girl Date

2009-03-25T17:30:00.007-04:00

I may have mentioned before that my days can get busy. With five kids, a husband, a house, homeschooling, and a myriad of hobbies, I can fill up a calendar pretty fast. One of those "calendar-filling" things that I do is to take each of my girls on a date. For them it's every four weeks, but for me it's one day each week where I take one of the girls out to do something that they like. Lately that's been shopping, but then again, that shouldn't be a surprise.

Yesterday was my date with Lou, who is my second daughter. She wanted to go to a garden center for her date and so that's what we did. Unfortunately we got there just before they were about to close, so Lou didn't have time to pick out and purchase what she wanted (a rose bush), but we were able to talk to some knowledgeable salespeople and get some great ideas. (We're going back there this weekend)

But while we wait to return to that garden center, we stopped by Home Depot and bought some strawberry plants. I think that we've both caught the spring gardening bug and just wanted to get started so here are our first strawberry plants.

We also started some lavender seeds. I really hope that they take. Keep your fingers crossed for me because I'm a brown thumb.

Thanks De

2009-03-24T12:49:00.004-04:00

I'm waaayyy late in getting around to this but I do want to make sure to thank you. I'm really feeling my way around with this whole blog thing so your award is deeply felt!

Look at What I Ordered

2009-03-24T10:02:00.012-04:00

Guess what I'm going to be doing this spring?

I'd been eyeing these books for a while and finally took the plunge today. Both books have rave reviews on Amazon, so I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll enjoy them.

Craft Book Makeover

2009-03-02T08:21:00.007-05:00

Recently, I bought a few crafting books. I'd been looking forward to getting these books for a while and they did not disappoint. I love the pictures, the instructions seem easy enough, and there are a lot of projects in each of the books that I really think that I can make.

BUT . . .

Yes, there is a but.

Have you ever tried making things in craft books when the book refuses to stay open?!? All four of the books that I've purchased are soft bound, which does not make it easy to use when you're actually trying to make the projects in the book. So I've found an alternative, thanks to my local office supply store. I took three of them in to have the spines removed and to have a spiral binding put in. It worked perfectly. My books stay open flat so that I can read my directions as well as for copying the patterns inside. The guy who worked on my books did an excellent job and I didn't lose any words or pictures from having the binding removed. All in all, it was definitely worth the extra $5 per book.

So, here's just a tip for any crafty types. If your craft book is soft-bound and you actually plan on using it. Take it in to your local office supply or copier and have them remove the spine and spiral bind it for you. You will love it!

"Misunderestimated"

2009-02-19T09:46:00.010-05:00

I totally misunderestimated how much thread it would take to complete this quilt.
I totally misunderestimated how much time it would take to complete this quilt.
I totally misunderestimated how much fun it would be to complete this quilt.
And finally. . .
I totally misunderestimated how beautiful this quilt would be!

I really do love this quilt. The girls (and the boy) all love it too. I would definitely make this one again. The directions were clear and the process is so simple that it would be a great beginner project. I'm even thinking of having the girls make one for themselves although it would definitely have to be a summer project.

I did learn a few things. First, make sure to buy a TON of thread. Okay, not really a ton but definitely buy at least three jumbo spools of thread. You may be able to use two if you use Coats and Clark (I think that their jumbo spools have more yardage) but I use Gutermann thread and I definitely needed three jumbo spools.

I also learned that the special rotary cutter for chenille is totally unnecessary. It was easier to just use my shears to cut through the layers to make the chenille. I am saving the chenille rotary cutter for paper crafts though.

So, I can proudly say that I've sewn 17 yards of fabric this year because that's how much fabric it took to make this. By the way, I decided to name it "February meets March". The two fabrics look like I must have bought them sometime between Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day and I did make it in the month of February so there you go - "February meets March".

No Idle Hands Here

2009-02-07T23:03:00.007-05:00

Yeah, I know it's been a while - longer than I intended but I have actually been busy.

Life with teens, pre-teens, and a preschooler is crazy busy and crazy fun all rolled together and this has really put a damper on my crafting life (ha ha). Seriously though, I'm having a ball. I'm having an individual date night with each of my girls on Tuesdays, taking a financial course on Mondays, my regular date with "the man of my dreams" on Sundays and somehow I'm sneaking in a little "crafty goodness".

So here's a little update. After I finished cleaning out my sewing room, I decided to work on some UFOs (UnFinished Objects) that were cluttering up the place. The first one that I've decided to tackle is the "Ragtime Hearts" quilt. This quilt was designed by Liz Porter and featured in the Fons' and Porter's Love of Quilting magazine, January/February 2006 issue. I'd bought the fabric for this quilt back in 2006 - a whopping 16 yards - and it was taking up a lot of space. Plus, I really wanted to make this quilt up. So I decided to finally get down to business.

It's actually a fairly simple process - cutting squares of fabric, layering those squares, adding an opposing colored heart on top of those squares, sewing parallel, diagonal lines across each square, making cuts between the lines to chenille the blocks, and finally sewing the blocks together. After all that you wash and dry the quilt and whola!, you've got yourself a quilt!

Okay, if you followed that then you are already a quilter or have secret powers of understanding. Here are some of the squares and hearts waiting to be put together. These are only half of the blocks required for the quilt. The other half will be in opposing colors.

I did manage to get the other half of my blocks with heart sewn although I'm not sure if the diagonal lines will show up in the photo. These blocks are ready to be "chenilled" (I know that I just made up a word), but I want to wait until the others are done and then do them all together.

It takes 35 of these blocks to complete this quilt, which will be 5x7 feet when I'm through. My hope is to have it done by Valentine's Day but I think that it probably won't happen so I'm giving myself until March. That is a more realistic, and still challenging, goal.

I've also been working on the socks that I started a few weeks ago. I finished the first one this week.

I really should just go ahead and knock the second one out, but I'm going to wait until I make more headway on this quilt first. You know how it is when you're on a roll.

Cleaning Up My Act

2009-01-28T20:22:00.003-05:00

I'm really trying to be more diligent but I'm finding, as we're really getting into planning, that I have a lot of catching up to do. Now that my calender is filled with dates (dates with girls, dates with the man of my dreams, dates for recitals, practices, etc.), it's really getting hard to do all that other stuff that I used to do. Which now has me wondering how I had any time at all to do things!

Well, we're chugging along with homeschooling and my younger girls just finished their dance recital yesterday. Of course I had to sew two ballet costumes for that. I'm also still working on the Retro Rib Socks that I started a few weeks ago. The good news there is that I found someone to give them too which is inspiring me to work on them more diligently. I also have a resident for my "little house" (the dollhouse) which I will update on later. Right now he's waiting on his clothes so that he can take a decent picture. And finally I started a rag quilt that I had bought the fabric for about a year ago.

So, I guess I have been doing a lot of the things that I usually do after all. I guess I just feel busier.

So, what does this all have to do with cleaning up my act?

Well, you see, I can only be creative when my house is clean or a least, relatively, in order. I know that there are others like me who just can't seem to get going in the midst of a big mess. I'm sure there's some formal diagnosis for it. Anyway, that's been my hangup. So I've really had to spend some time cleaning out and getting rid of stuff so that I could feel creative again. It definitely worked. After tackling my big load up ironing and rearranging my sewing room, I am back in action!

On another front, I know that I'm about a week late with this, but I have to post this. Last week was "Sanctity of Life" day and I really wanted to share this. My IRL friends will laugh because I can never describe this video without crying (and by crying I really mean weeping), but here it is.

Opportunity Knocking

2009-01-16T18:47:00.003-05:00

or better put, BANGING!

I don't know if I ever mentioned that I have four daughters whose ages range from 10 to 15. That means that I am in the throes of teen-age parenting. I am feeling it BIG TIME. But, I think that what makes me quite different from most parents of teens in our society is that while I am very much afraid, I am also very much in faith. I look forward and see a LOT of work to be done but I also see a lot of opportunity to be had.

That's why I'm reading AGE OF OPPORTUNITY by Paul Tripp. I've had it for years and got maybe halfway through but now everything is really coming to life for me. It's such a great help to be reminded that there is grace available to parent teens. This is the time that I can really talk with my girls (and them understand) about what is dear to my heart and how I live my life and how I would want them to live theirs. I also recognize that it's the time where they are going to make their decisions but I have the chance to be an influence and so I'm going to throw myself into that.

Of course, I'll still be knitting socks for them too and my oldest wants to build another dollhouse together. I'm definitely hearing opportunity knocking and I'd better be ready to answer!

MIA

2009-01-15T09:57:00.007-05:00

I know that's been me the last couple of weeks.

Honestly, I am completely amazed at how the time has flown by since the New Year. I purposely didn't post on New Years Day because I'm a big "new years resolution" girl and didn't want to add yet another new year resolution post. But I do like to reflect and set goals at the beginning of a new year and this year I'm slowly setting about doing just that. This year things are different, though, because "the man of my dreams" has surprised me and is getting into planning mode himself. Since this has a significant effect on me and my goal-setting, I'm (or I should say we're) taking the whole month of January to really write down our plan for the year.

We've started some. We've already put our date nights on the calendar as well as our individual dates with our children. This will be my first time having a scheduled "individual" date with each girl. Previously, we've had "girls day out" and even then, it wasn't as consistent as we wanted. Partly due to lack of planning. But now, every Thursday night I will be out on the town with one of my dear girls. Pray for me, or better yet, pray for my girls. I'm not the most entertaining person so I'm hoping that they won't get too bored with me : )

I've also been getting up at 6am every morning and getting the girls up earlier to start school. I'm finding that they actually do better work when they wake up early, even though they are still determined to be "night owls". They go to bed earlier since they get up earlier but they can still stay up later than me. It must be an age thing. But I'm finding that I am definitely more productive now and also more tired in the evening. I also find that I'm spending far less time on the computer.

So, basically, I've been busy planning and doing the "regular" work of life like being a Christian, wife, mom, homemaker, teacher, and sometimes doing a little crafting.

I finished some socks

and started some socks.

I know it's not been much to look at, but I do have plans for more to show soon.

Christmas ReCap

2008-12-31T19:23:00.008-05:00

Wow, I can't believe that the Christmas holiday has already come and gone. I really planned to be more faithful in my blog updates while I had the chance, but sometimes life just happens. So here's how the holidays went here.

First, there was the early Christmas presents.

Those are pictures of all four girls getting (or having gotten) their ears pierced. My DH, the man of my dreams, finally gave in and let the girls get their ears pierced. Well, to be honest, this is the first year that they've actually wanted to have it done and so we started Christmas a few days early with a visit to Wal-Mart.

Then, there was Christmas Day.

Of course, no Christmas is complete without somebody getting a new bike . . .

And, here's my favorite (a gift from the man of my dreams)

Of course Christmas isn't all about the gifts, but the giving and receiving of gifts points to the great giving and receiving of the ultimate gift - the gift of Jesus.

For Christmas dinner we had a few families come over. We had 29 people in all and had the best time. I have to say that I didn't do all the cooking. DH smoked the meat (turkey and pork loin) and I made macaroni and cheese and sweet potato casserole. Everyone else brought the rest including salad, corn pudding, collard greens, green beans, bread, a Cuban rice dish, and desserts. Oh, even though this wasn't part of our Christmas dinner, I got to have authentic homemade tamales. Our friend "C" brought us some that his wife had made and they were INCREDIBLE. Back to Christmas, it was a great day with great food, great friends, and a great family. What more can anyone ask for?

Christmas Cheer!

2008-12-19T07:06:00.006-05:00

Every year my daughter's piano teacher hosts a Christmas recital. Each of her students, from the newest beginner to the advanced, plays a Christmas song and the entire audience sings along. Every year we go and sing too. But this year was different. This year there was something more "Christmasy" about it. It's always nice to hear your child (and other children) play but this year it was fun! There just seemed to be a real spirit of Christmas cheer this year that left you feeling really good.

By the way, my daughter Lou played "Do You Hear What I Hear" (all four verses) and did an outstanding job!

iSew

2008-12-18T10:15:00.007-05:00

In fact, I used to sew all the time. But that was when my girls were younger and would actually wear the garments that I made for them. Now, not so much. Well, I should probably qualify that more. They don't wear the garments "as much" as they used to wear them when they were younger. Now, they're into jeans and tshirts. That's one of the reasons why I've taken to knitting but that's another story.

Back to sewing. I actually made something recently and it felt really good to be back at the sewing machine. I got a request to make a sample outfit for a baby girl who was born with a serious birth defect that affects her skin and causes her to blister with any amount of friction. She's a beautiful little girl and I was very honored to help out, along with a few other ladies from our church. This is the outfit that I was asked to make.

The outfit is a little kimono top and a knitted pant with skirt. The pink stripe is a cotton/lycra knit and the white is a cotton knit. The top is tied with a pink ribbon and edged with fold-over elastic. I really love how this came out, although I wish that I had taken a better picture of the outfit. The pattern is from Ottobre Magazine, issue 5/2006.

After make the little outfit for Baby H, I decided that since I already had pink thread in my sewing machine and serger I should make the long overdue pajama tops for my two younger girls. I've had this pink cat knit lying around the house now for over a year (I know, baby mommy) and I was on a roll. I ended up making three because I only had a yard of the darker pink cat knit and I had enough of the lighter pink (which originally no one wanted) to make two. After they were sewn up, my girls magically decided that they liked the lighter pink. Go figure!

These are also made with a cotton knit from Ottobre, issue 4/2004. I made all these items on Saturday and am happy to report that the girls have been wearing them to bed every night since. So, now I'm looking at my fabric stash again.

The Dishwasher

2008-12-12T23:07:00.003-05:00

There have been some changes in my house this week. My dishwasher died. Well, really it's dying.

I noticed it first on Monday morning when there looked like a water spill had dried on the floor in front of the dishwasher. I thought that one my girls had spilled something and was just being too lazy to clean it up. Then I ran the dishwasher as usual later in the day and when I came back to the kitchen I slipped in a puddle in front of the dishwasher. So I knew then that I had a problem - my dishwasher had broken.

Normally, that would have been enough to put me in a funk for the entire holiday season. I mean, having to replace a dishwasher during Christmas when we have five kids to buy presents for. And on top of that, we're hosting my family's Christmas party AND my husband's parents are coming down here for Christmas! (BTW, I know I made two gross grammatical errors in those last two sentences, but I'm going to let them stay anyway) So, like I stated, the dishwasher breaking right at this time should have me in the doldrums (putting it nicely) but, to my surprise, it didn't happen.

When I realized that the dishwasher was broken my first thought was "hey, this gives me the opportunity to teach my girls how to wash dishes" (they know how to load a dishwasher, but I've never taught them to wash dishes). Then I had another thought. Hey, this is a great opportunity to hang out with each of my girls individually while we wash and dry the dishes. I know that it sounds a little corny, but I now have about a 30 minute "date" with each of my girls every day while we wash dishes together. Even though we're at home together all day, it's sometimes difficult to have private time with just one of them and the dishwasher breaking has provided me with just that little bit of time to build relationships with my girls. It's funny how just a change of perspective can turn a potential problem into an opportunity. So, among all the other joys of this holiday season at our house is the newfound joy of hanging out washing dishes my girls.

Happy Birthday to the "Man of My Dreams"

2008-11-30T07:52:00.003-05:00

What can I say about a guy who, after 20 years, is still the "man of my dreams"? I think that that moniker says it all. I wouldn't trade him for the world and I'm glad to have spent the last 18 years of my life married to him. swoon

Thanksgiving Day Recap

2008-11-28T09:11:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a great Thanksgiving.

We started the day with our traditional family holiday breakfast which is just a big breakfast that I make on holidays when we all have a lot of time to cook and eat. Yesterday's breakfast wasn't quite as big as usual, but we had most of the essentials: bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, grits (including the annual debate as to whether you put sugar or salt and pepper on your grits), and my holiday fruit salad (pineapple, oranges, cherries, and marshmallows), orange juice, and egg nog. I think it gets better every year!

We (actually "the man of my dreams") had also smoked 6 turkeys yesterday, two for our family and four for others. That man is loving his smoker, which has turned out to be a great investment in the two months since we've had it. So after breakfast our friends came to pick up their turkeys and we all packed up (along with the 2 remaining turkeys) to go down to Chattanooga to have Thanksgiving dinner with my family. The turkeys were a HIT! EVERYBODY loved them, including the "man of my dreams" who is always the worst critic of his own food.

All in all, it was a great day. I got to see my brother and sisters and their children. It's not often that we're all together. Here's my favorite picture from the day, it's me with my sisters Jackie and Jamie.

Giving Thanks to God on Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-27T08:19:00.003-05:00

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States.

Thanksgiving Day started as a day of giving thanks to God for the bountiful harvests that the Pilgrims received after their first difficult winter in New England, and even though most people today are not farmers, we all still sow and reap some type of harvest (since we are always reaping what we have sown). So Thanksgiving Day can be a time to reflect on the type of harvest I am reaping. Is it the type of harvest that I want to reap? If not, then I have to look at what I have been sowing throughout the year. Have I been sowing anger and bitterness toward my husband and children and am now reaping a harvest of sullen children and a distant husband? Am I sowing selfishness toward others and reaping a harvest of loneliness?

Fortunately, God's grace is available to me and that is what I am most thankful for today. I have sown selfishness, pride, bitterness and God has been faithful to show me my wrong and give me the grace to change. Even though at times it was painful and difficult to change, I am so glad that God's grace has changed me. So today I am reaping a harvest of a husband who loves me and who I can still call "the man of my dreams", teen and pre-teen daughters whom I love and even like to be around, and a funny little guy who loves his mommy. Even though I still have many areas that need change, I have an abundantly good harvest and can truly rejoice and be thankful because God has been good. Today is a good day! Happy Thanksgiving!

A "Little" Home Making

2008-11-26T10:31:00.006-05:00

Every year I pull this dollhouse out in the hope that it will be finished for Christmas. "The man of my dreams" calls it my life project because it will take my whole life to finish it, and in some ways he is right, but I am DETERMINED that this will be the year that it will be completed, although not furnished, by Christmas. Then it can take its place in the living room and I can start another dollhouse. - A girl can dream, can't she?

So, about this dollhouse. It's from Real Good Toys and is called "the Vermont Farmhouse Jr.". I decided to paint it pink years ago because it was supposed to be for my girls, who at the time preferred colors like pink and purple. I still like it though. It's a good reminder that this is really supposed to be a child's plaything. I just recently finished installing electricity in the house as you can see here:

And I've also wallpapered the kitchen. I really tried to find a good "miniature" wallpaper but ended up finding a scrapbook paper which worked very well, at least I think so. And the girls like it and that's the most important thing.

I was up in the air about which kitchen set will go in the dollhouse. We somehow ended up with two kitchen sets that we purchased while we were in Atlanta years ago. The girls are leaning toward the brown set.

If you saw the light fixture in the kitchen, that thing actually works! We had an "official" lighting ceremony when I finally got that thing in. Since I'm on a roll, I really want to get it somewhat finished and I do think that I might have a shot this year. We'll see. I'm hoping to post updates on it as it come along, so we'll consider today and introduction to "the dollhouse". I guess I'd better come up with a name for it, hmm.

Whew! Playing "Catch Up"

2008-11-19T10:07:00.006-05:00

Last week my family took a trip out to Missouri. I had actually planned on posting during the trip but I could not get any internet connection. So, here I am playing "catch up" today.

During the trip I worked on the Kilkenny Capelet pattern by KnitPicks. I had bought the pattern and yarn for this sometime last spring and couldn't remember if I were planning to make it for myself or for someone else. I had reason to question because I bought the pattern in my favorite color, green, but the amount of yarn I bought was for a medium. Now that it's finished I realize that it was definitely for me and I suppose I could have looked up the info on the finished size to know what size woman it would fit, but I continued to knit it up and was very glad that at the end, it fit me.

I don't have a modeled shot yet because I need to get some shawl pins. I really like it because my husband really likes it on me and now wants me to make another. That always makes a project worthwhile.

On the way home from our trip we spent one night at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville. It's our family's favorite hotel and if you haven't been there, you've got to go. Here's the view from our room:

I wasn't the only one enjoying the view. My little guy seemed to really like it too.

Now life is back to normal. During our trip we continued to homeschool and now we're still working away and getting the house cleaned up while still maintaining our weekly commitments - piano lessons, biology labs, ballet, etc. It's nice to be back!

Congratulations President Elect Obama

2008-11-05T06:41:00.005-05:00

Congratulations to Barack Obama who has become the first African-American President of the United States. Who in our country can deny the magnitude of this historic event? Who can not be proud that a country who only 40 years ago bandied about the 'n' word freely and only 100 years ago couldn't even fathom inviting a black person to the White House and 150 years ago subjected the entire race to slavery has now elected a black man for President. I think that every American, regardless of politics, should feel proud of this accomplishment.

I will be praying for Mr. Obama and his administration, always remembering that it is God who gives us our leaders.

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will. Prov. 21:1

Election Day

2008-11-04T08:05:00.003-05:00

I think that Dr. Piper says it best:

Now, vote like you're not voting!

Pleasant Places

2008-11-03T11:51:00.008-05:00

Today is my birthday.

When we enter Birthday Season at our house, it really is for an entire season. Today is one of those birthdays that ends with a "0" for me so that always seems like it should be some type of landmark. But for me it's really just another birthday. So many of my friends have already reached their 40th birthdays that it's more of a non-event than it is a big deal. But today I'm playing along and appreciating 40 whole years of ME.

So, now some profound thoughts from my 40 year old self . . .

I have to say, as I look back on my many years, that I feel just the same as David must have felt when he wrote in Psalm 16:6 - "The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance." I can't look at my life without realizing that I am doing better than I deserve (to borrow a phrase from Dave Ramsey). I have the best husband, the best children, the best friends, the best family, the best Church, and more importantly of all I have all of these because I serve the one true God who has given all these things to me simply on the basis of His grace alone.

If you're thinking that I can say this because I have not suffered or had bad things happen to me then you're wrong. I can say this because I have experienced many things that would be considered devastating including the death of very close loved ones after watching them suffer for many months, difficult financial times, difficult times in marriage, and even difficult children.

And still after 40 years on this earth the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.

Happy Birthday Claire

2008-10-30T14:18:00.007-04:00

Today is my friend Claire's birthday. I won't tell her age because she is only four days older than I am so if I tell hers, I tell my own.

I'm very fortunate to have a friend like Claire. I tell her that all the time but it's true! Ever since I first met her I've been struck by her thoughtfulness and her willingness to do for others. I first met her when she arranged a birthday surprise for her "now" husband by inviting a bunch of his friends over to spend the weekend at his parent's place in NC. My husband and I were among those invited. Claire made the entire weekend a pleasure. She cooked for us all which in itself was a feat since all the guys were college athletes with huge appetites. And let me add that everything she made was homemade, including biscuits and blueberry pancakes for lunch. I think we ate pizza one night so she got a break at some point. We were all very impressed with her from the start and really hoped that everything would work out between her and her "now" husband so that we could have Claire!

Fast forward 18 (wow!) years later and here we all are - me, married 19 years with five kids, and Claire, with her three kids about to celebrate her 15th wedding anniversary next month - the best of friends. Who would have ever thought?!?

Claire continues to impress me. I remember once when she had the idea to bless one of our friends who was working at home with three small children. Claire decided that she would take them once a week so that our friend could get some work done. I was incredibly impressed by Claire's kindness and if that wasn't enough, Claire also made dinner for our friend and would return her kids to her along with dinner for the day. Who thinks like that? Unfortunately, I know I don't.

Then there were the years that our girls took dance lessons. Claire thought that it would be a good idea if all the moms whose girls were taking dance lessons brought dinner for the dance teacher since she would have been out all day teaching our daughters. So she organized everything so that we could all bless our dance teacher (who was giving our girls great dance lessons at a discount rate).

I could really go on and on (and on and on).But as I reflect over the years I've been privileged to be friends with Claire, she is the exact same way in that respect. Always thinking of others. When I think of the number of times I've been the beneficiary of Claire's kindness . . .

well, you know (feeling a little weepy here)

I hope that I've been as good a friend to her.

Happy Birthday Claire. I hope you enjoy this day with your family.

By the way, I finished your socks today.

Claire's socks are the Retro Ribs socks pattern by Evelyn Clark knit up using Garnstudio DROPS Fabel yarn.

Socks!

2008-10-29T13:50:00.010-04:00

So what better way to bless my girls than with their very own pair of hand-knit socks. Back in the day I used to sew for them and not just any sewing but heirloom sewing. Yes, that included smocking, lace-shaping, the works. These days my girls aren't likely to ask for any hand-made clothing, but they will accept and actually wear hand-knit socks. So I have become a sock knitter!

These are all requested socks. Starting on the left are the Cascading Leaves socks (pattern by Jeannie Townsend). They are knit up in Zitron Trekking HandArt yarn which was a dream to work with. I really wanted to knit these up for myself but my daughter Lou and I share a common favorite color, green, and since she took a liking to the yarn, they became hers.

The second pair are the Skully socks by Malin Walkeby. My oldest daughter Sally has a fascination with skulls right now and I agreed to make these on the condition that they not be black and white. I just couldn't go that far. But we both agreed that they came out really well. I knit them up in Knit Picks essential sock yarn, dusk and bare. Blue is her favorite color although a couple of times I threatened to knit them up in pink!

The third pair are Retro Rib socks by Evelyn Clark. This is the second time I've knit this pattern and I think it's my fallback sock pattern. I really like knitting this up. This pair for my youngest daughter (she doesn't like the nickname that I call her so in deference to her I'm not going to refer to her by that name) is knit up in Berrocco Sox yarn. This is a really nice yarn to work with too. Every time I pulled this pair out to work on, I would get compliments on the colors. But what could I say? I didn't dye the yarn and I didn't even pick it out. Youngest daughter did. They are gorgeous though and really stretchy while still keeping their shape. (Psst . . . I'm making another pair right now)

The final pair are the Waving Lace socks by Evelyn Clark. These are for my third daughter, Noggin. They're knit up in Crystal Palace Bamboo Cotton yarn. I really love this yarn too. This is the second pair of socks I've knit in this same yarn and colorway. That's how much I love this yarn. It will make anything you knit with it gorgeous.

Birthday Season

2008-10-24T11:12:00.005-04:00

So what's my excuse for not posting the entire last week?

Birthdays

Last week was birthday week at our house. Two of our daughters were born within a two day time span, not to mention that one of those daughters shares a birthday with my husband's grandmother and this birthday happens to be her 100th birthday. Yeah, that makes for a very interesting week. It was busy, eventful, and fun all at the same time. So let me walk you through it.

First of all, my third daughter, who I call affectionately call Noggin, had her twelfth birthday. I can't believe that she turned 12 because we always refer to our two younger daughters as the "little girls". Well, she's not really a little girl anymore and turning 12 just knocks that into a parent's head. We were invited to a luncheon at a friend's house that day and my best friend Claire surprised us with this . . .

Yeah, I can't believe that I have such a good friend. I definitely don't deserve her and I make sure that I tell her that, but probably not as often as I should. Noggin really enjoyed the cake. Here she is blowing out the candles.

The very next day we all piled in the car and headed up to Maryland to celebrate my husband's grandmother's 100th birthday, which is also my oldest daughter's (who I affectionately call Xan) 15th birthday. There was a big birthday celebration party and program planned in her honor and we were responsible for bringing food because my husband happens to be the "bbq king". So, yes, we actually smoked the meat, loaded it up into these huge coolers and put them on a trailer and took them up to Maryland for the celebration. To be honest, it wasn't the first time we've done something like this. The party for Mother Vann (husband's grandmother) turned out perfect. Different family members performed for the program: my husband read her bio, my mother-in-law recited a poem, my sister-in-law (professional dancer) performed, the kids (great-grandchildren) performed a dance, two of my nieces sang, and my second daughter (Lou) played the piano. By the way, the food was INCREDIBLE, and yes, I was shouting!

Can you believe it, 100 years . . .

Bleak House

2008-10-13T22:16:00.003-04:00

So, I've been away from my blog after being captivated by the book BLEAK HOUSE by Charles Dickens over the last week. I've actually been listening to it on my iPod. I have an account with Audible where I can download two books per month onto my iPod and save on any other books I may want to buy after that. I love Audible and would definitely recommend it to anyone with an iPod or other MP3 player. So last week I listened to 36, yes thirty-six hours of BLEAK HOUSE and it was great. I was already a Dickens fan (who wouldn't be after having read A TALE OF TWO CITIES) so this only furthered my love for Dickens and after finishing it, I downloaded two more of Dickens' books.

So, BLEAK HOUSE . . . It's a great picture of the absurdity of a society riddled by lawsuits and how the only people who profit from it are lawyers. There, that's it in a nutshell but as always, it's a lot more. You are drawn in into the lives of what seems to be random people throughout 19th century England whose lives are affected by one huge lawsuit that seems to go on forever but the lawsuit has an effect on each of their lives, drawing them together for the better or the worst. Everyone suffers in some degree by the lawsuit except for the lawyers. There's tons of subplots throughout and even a mystery. There are also some interesting characters like Mr. Skimpole, Sir and Lady Deadlock, and Mr. Guppy. No one could get away with naming their characters names like that these days but it certainly adds to the plot.

While I listened to BLEAK HOUSE, I wasn't altogether idol. I managed to keep up with our homeschooling and work AND I managed to finish the Waving Lace Socks that I was working on and I actually cast on The Skully Socks for my oldest daughters. Can you tell that I like to knit socks? I mean, what is there not to love since you can take them wherever you go and you have something quick and unique afterward.

Practicing Hospitality

2008-10-03T14:53:00.002-04:00

So today we had unexpected visitors. We never, or I should say hardly ever, get unexpected visitors but today we did. Our good friends (my best friend and her children) came by after having watched a play in our town. So we got to suspend our schoolwork for a couple of hours and practice hospitality.

It was great for us. We don't do it nearly enough and it just reminded me of how remiss I can be in inviting others over and opening our home to them. I really want my kids to think of others and share whatever goodness and grace we have received with other people in our home. Of course I want the same for my own soul, but as I watch my girls grow into young ladies, it becomes all the more important.

We were also fortunate enough to be able to practice hospitality earlier this week when we had a single young lady over for the afternoon and for dinner. We had a blast playing games, eating together, and just enjoying good fellowship. We even got to try a new (somewhat new) dessert. We made Rice Krispie treats but instead of using the regular white marshmallows, I used strawberry marshmallows. I also made a batch with regular marshmallows because my girls were convinced that marshmallow treats could not possibly be good if made with strawberry marshmallows. Well, they were. In fact, they were so good that I didn't get to snap a picture of them before they were all eaten. But I do have a "work in progress" pic . . .

Just A Day . . .

2008-10-02T18:50:00.005-04:00

Today was just a day, an ordinary day in the life, but what a sweet life.

Today was just one of those great fall days where the morning starts out cool, not yet cold and you want to just stay in the bed wrapped up in your blanket. I love those kind of days. However I did manage to actually get up and wake my girls for a normal day of homeschooling. Yesterday was an easier day for us all to get out of bed because one of my girls decided to get up early and make us all a coffeecake for breakfast. Today it was just cereal with milk. Not quite the incentive for us all to get going but we managed.

Everyone got to work today and I caught up with grading papers. We use two different companies for our curriculum. My older girls are using Covenant Home Curriculum and my younger girls are using Alpha Omega Lifepacs. My son, who is four, is using Saxon Kindgergarten Phonics and Math along with Before Five in a Row. It works for us, it keeps me scheduled but I'm also learning to make it flexible for us.

In the meantime I also got to listen to a couple of short podcasts and get a few rounds in on a sock I'm making for one of the girls.

The socks are going to be an early birthday gift for my third daughter who is turning 12 in two weeks. She picked out the yarn and I picked out the pattern. I'm really trying to sneak in knitting time during the day because I have another daughter with a birthday this month that I really want to knit a pair of socks for, too. I'm going to work like it's possible but I'm also going to prepare myself and her for a late birthday present.

Outing Myself

2008-09-30T17:38:00.001-04:00

Recently, actually Sunday, while I was at the lake with other families with teen-agers, I was chatting with a group of women about different things and somehow we ended up talking about crafts. Now, this happens regularly when I'm out because usually I'm doing something like knitting on a sock, but on Sunday I wasn't knitting but the subject still came up and one of the ladies totally surprised me by mentioning her spinning wheel! Yeah, that's right, she said that she had a spinning wheel. My mouth literally dropped open because I have a spinning wheel too.

It was my "sort of" secret because I'd only told a few of my friends in confidence that I had bought one over the summer. But, here I was with other ladies that I know and love, and one of them actually had a spinning wheel too and if that was not enough of a surprise, another lady at the table said that she had one too, but hadn't learned how to use it yet. I could have fallen off the seat then but instead I had enough control over my brain to admit that I had bought one just two months before and was absolutely in love with spinning, thereby "outing" myself.

So here's my wheel. It's a Majacraft Little Gem. It doesn't look like the traditional spinning wheel that you may have visions of from the different fairy tales that you might have read because this is a modern "upright" wheel and even this one is smaller than most uprights. It works like a charm though and actually folds up so that you can spin wherever you go.

I named her Jane Bennet. Can you guess where I got the name. She's so pretty and calm that she couldn't possibly be Elizabeth Bennet, the Jane Austen heroine of Pride and Prejudice so I named her after Jane. I suppose I could have chosen Elinor Dashwood (from Sense and Sensibility) or Anne Elliot (from Persuasion), but she looked more like a Jane. Maybe my next spinning wheels . . .

Happy Birthday, Mama

2008-09-29T14:16:00.000-04:00

Today is my mother's birthday and what better start is there to a blog about building your own house wisely than to express gratitude to the person who gave you your own start in life. My mother was young and unmarried when she had me and, in an age where living for yourself was the motto, she displayed a level of sacrifice in raising me that was well beyond her years.

My mother decided to get her degree after I was born because as she said, "when I was born and she saw me, she wanted to do something to make me proud". Isn't that just incredible! I wonder how many mothers say that to their newborns these days and then actually do something? My mother did and I have always been humbled by that story.

My mother is older now and I hope that I have made her proud of her decision. I hope that she is enjoying her birthday today. I was able to give her a box of her favorite candy - chocolate covered cherries - and a sweater that I made for her.

It looks much better on her than just sprawled on the sofa but she was very pleased with it and that's what matters.

Introducing Myself and My Blog

2008-09-29T13:01:00.001-04:00

First of all, I have to say that this is not the first blog that I've started. But I hope to at least be faithful with this one. I just really thought that I needed a new start because my former blog was supposed to be about my sewing but I don't sew as regularly as I thought and find that I can go quite a long time without even being inspired. However, I did find that I have quite a few thoughts about other things that fortunately fit under this new title, therefore the new blog.

Okay, my name is Dawn and I live in the southeast United States where I have lived all of my life. I was fortunate enough to attend a great university (Go Vols!) where I became a Christian and married "the man of my dreams" which is the blog name that I always use to refer to my dear husband because he really is the man of my dreams. I also find that it's helpful to always refer to him that way because on those days when I don't necessarily feel like he's the "man of my dreams", it's useful to remind me that he really is. So, I've been married 18 years now. We married while we were still in school and I would highly recommend it. We had a blast even though we were very young and immature in a lot of ways. I wouldn't trade those years for anything. Now we have five kids, four daughters who were born very close together and then a son born six years after we thought we may be done. I've been a stay at home mom since my oldest daughter was born and have loved every minute, well, in retrospect anyway. I'm very glad that I've been able to stay at home with my family and grow to appreciate that more every day. I should also add that I also homeschool my kids. I've homeschooled them since the beginning and this year I'm homeschooling grades 9, 8, 6, 5, and K. Yeah, it makes me tired just typing it but, as hard as it could be, the benefits far outweigh the work involved.

Now, as to this blog. I took the name from one of my very favorite verses in the Bible. Proverbs 14:1 says "The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down." (ESV) I love this verse because it reminds me that everyday I have a choice - to either build my house wisely or to be foolish and tear it down myself. This is terrifying as well as encouraging. I know that I'm not always a wise builder but I know that God provides the grace for me to be a wise builder and that if I'm not taking advantage of that grace to build, I'm (through my own folly) tearing my house down. This is very sobering to me so I hope to chronicle throughout this blog "wise building". I hope that other women will be inspired to build their own houses in their own ways, but to build and not tear down because we definitely practice one or the other every day and at some point we reap the consequences of whichever choice we make.