Feathered friends

Had a delightful little visitor to the garden this morning. Never have I seen a bird in the wild with blue feathers. Ok... other than a blue jay... I bolted for the camera and tried to get a few pics before he flew off... this is what I managed to come up with... He's an indigo bunting, I believe.












Jordan and Hannah are off to Nanny & Poppy's for a week, so it's just me and Jaden here during the day. I plan on getting a few things done around the house... such as tackle the laudry room, which had a considerable chunk of organizing already done to it by Nana. (btw... thanks so much, Nana!) Also, I'm going to get some sewing done for Hannah's summer wardrobe. I admit, I haven't done much sewing lately, and I'm trying really hard not to be thinking "I wish I were knitting right now..." but I don't think Hannah wants to wear knit shorts all summer long. Besides, I have a wall of fabric ready and waiting.



Here were a few of my selections to begin with.











In looking for a pattern, I realized just how long it's been since I've had the Pfaff out, when I didn't have any patterns the right size. All I have are toddler patterns... so I'm going to fudge it a wee bit and see how it goes. Knowing Hannah, she's just going to park herself out on a mound of dirt somewhere, and pretty, perfectly hemmed pinafores are not her thing. We'll see how much I can get done this week.

I also want to make some time for me... well, me and God is more like it. Rejuv my spirit.

Mark and I are going to snuggle in and watch Heroes together tonight, without interuptions... woohoo! btw... Heroes rocks. Luv it.

Well, off to do some clutter bustin'!

Oodles of News

Last weekend was the OCHEC conference. Usually I come home with my batteries recharged and my passion for homeschooling renewed. This year was a little different... the homeschool aspects of the conference were quite thought-provoking as usual, but I felt personally renewed, beyond just my role as a homeschooling mom. "Raising Maidens of Virtue" and "As Unto the Lord: Keys to Being a Biblical Wife" were two workshops given by Stacy MacDonald, mother of... get this... 10!!! Simply having that many kids makes me want to sit up and listen! But her strong desire to see daughters of the King living pure and passionate lives was overwhelming and I came home changed. Absolutely changed. We live in a culture that is very "me first" but we live an upside down faith - one that seeks the servitude of others first. It was wonderful.

Amanda came with us to attend the youth workshops to develop her mind a wee bit and learn about having a God-centred worldview. It was great to hang with her for the weekend, talk about... you know... stuff. She is wanting more of God... and that is good.

We hit Subway for lunch... time to photo-blog... Mark did a little Mambo Italiano for us...

Gotta love him. He certainly keeps life interesting.

Saw the sights of downtown Hamilton a wee bit before heading back.

I showed the Grumperina sock to the statue of Queen Victoria in downtown Hamilton. It was very impressed.

I think the lion looks very impressed too.

What homage to receive: Queen and Empress, Model Wife and Mother.

How is it we have come so far away from this? Being a wife and mother are no longer considered positions of honour. There are no accolades... little respect... Our society considers women who choose to raise their children and educate them to be just a mom... just a housewife. I am so thankful that I do not rely on the world around me for my sense of value. What I do, day in and day out, is beyond value and the rewards are beyond compare.

I leave you with this bit of graffiti...

Sunny days!

All right... I'm a little slow in posting... but man, was it ever nice this weekend! The kids couldn't wait to get outside! Jordan was up and dressed, teeth brushed and everything by the time I emerged for my first cup of tea!

Jordan and Hannah asked to get the car out, and so they took turns pushing each other. Awwww... isn't that nice?!?! Yeah... they took turns ramming each other into the steps - crash up derby style! Bonus points if they managed to make the rider jettison out the side! Sheesh! some people's kids!






















On the knitting front, sock 1 for Hannah is done and I'm one to #2. I must have been completely dazed when I picked up the stitches for the heel, because one side looks horrible and the other side is fabulous... and of course, I didn't notice until I was grafting the toe... that's what happens when you knit while watching tv... you just do row after row... Love the pattern though! Based on Grumperina's sock featured in Interweave Knits, but made for my mini-Grumperina. Based on 48 stitches. Rib 3, then brioche stitch. Also, I'll be finishing Jaden's raglan sleeved sweater tonight. (Impressed yet?) I'm just doing the last couple of rows for the rolled collar and then I'm done! And not a moment too soon... I hate circular needles! Ick! Ick! Ick! I've only had to use them for the collar and it just seems so fiddly... could just be me & my technique... I've never used them before, so I shall suspend my formal judgement for now, but I sure will be glad to be done. I must say - it looks fabulous! The seams are... seamless! hardy harr... I'm tickled at how nicely it has all come together. Just in time for his big 6 months old tomorrow! Gosh... where does the time go????

















Snapped this a couple of days ago... Mr Big Man sitting in mama's bed.

And then there's this... what an angel... I could just stare at that face all day.

Spring

"It tis such a lovely day," said the Sock to no one in particular. It was merely enjoying the beauty of the sunshine reflecting off its glorious colours.

"I do say," said the Sock, "the sky certainly is enjoying my blue. "

"Well, enough of this lounging about... I'm off to see if Spring has sprung." And so the Sock left its comfy place in the sun, and went off in search of Spring.

"Excuse me, my fine fellows, but have you perchance seen Spring?" asked the Sock. There came no reply. "How rude" thought the Sock, and so it continued.

























How will I ever find Spring?" said the Sock, to no one in particular as it continued its sun-filled journey.

It found a Tree, full of buds. The tiny Lilac blooms would not appear for some time, and yet they were there, the waiting of promise of beauty and fragrance yet to come. From this vantage point, the Sock asked again, in the loudest voice its wool would allow - "Has anyone seen Spring?"






















And then, a little voice startled him. "Ahem... I've seen Spring."
































It was a Crocus, opening its petals to the warmth of the Sunshine. It said again, "I've seen Spring."























"You have?!!" replied the Sock, hurrying down from its perch. "Oh you must tell me where you've seen Spring!"




Shyly, the little Crocus replied, "Oh my, Spring is beautiful. Spring is about changes. Spring is about warm colours emerging from the coolness of winter."



"It sounds lovely," said the Sock.



"Yes. You are," said the Crocus.

Boogies, Bees & Blankies

I have seen eeeeeeenuf running boogies, flying phlegm, viscous vomitous goo to last me a lifetime!!! Ick!

Well, dear little blog, nearly everyone here is sick... and definitely everyone who is under the age of 8... including the bambino, who still manages to look amazingly cute even while he's sniffing and snarfling. I haven't slept in three nights... but hey... I've been thinking about you and I just wanted you to know that... So here are the highlights from the last few days (boogies aside...)

Jordan participated in the Canada Spelling Bee on Saturday - he was very excited and totally pumped... he was ready to go all the way (but also preparing himself for the possibility of not winning...) He studied very hard for it. Triumphed in Round 1. But erred in Round 2. He was crushed. He mispelled warmth... such an easy word for him. Had to be nerves. He was totally crushed. The setting was horrid, I have to say... it was set in the middle of the food court in the mall... could you find a worse locale?? The sound quality was an issue as well... ok, I know... I'm going on a bit... but I think things could've been arranged a little better to see the kids be successful, not stressed out of their witts. Well, Jordan didn't make it to the next round. After the tears, he was able to accept that he was a winner... maybe not with first prize, but he worked exceptionally hard, went to all the practices, and tried his best. He'll need to study more than just words for next year - learning how to focus better and tune out distraction. He's determined to do better.

Pre-competetion: cool as a cucumber

Sneak shot during Round 1: Cut the tension with a knife!

WIP News: Started a new project..... a test project actually... I want to make a blanket out of my odds and ends of sock yarn... inspired by: Shelly, whom I read about on Yarn Harlot (scroll down)... but I thought I'd test it out first. It's made up of a bunch of mitered squares and looks very cool with all the fantasitc colour changes that come with sock yarns. I'm nearly done Jaden's raglan, getting a little tired of blue... so I thought I'd set my hands to testing it out. Ya know what? These squares have awesome MOJO!!! Great info here. These squares get faster as you go (because you decrease stitches every round) and it's quite thrilling. Honest. It's like riding a roller coaster - the slow climb... then zoom... down the hill, and you're done. What? You don't believe me? Fine then...



So, my test project: I dug out a bunch of crappy yarn that's been kicking around... mostly squeaky acrylic... actually I think it's all squeaky acrylic... but Frugal Me says I shouldn't throw it out, some good ought to come from it, even though it's like knitting with steel wool. Ick. Oh well. THe wicked mojo makes up for it.

Square 1: (My internal conversation...does this look right? it doesn't look like a square to me... hey, this looks like underpants...)













By last night:















And tonight: thought I'd try a big square mixed in. Messed with the mojo. Me not happy. Oh well.













The colours look a little nicer in real life... honest. Just a little though. It's not the prettiest bag of stash... most of it is coming from a neighbour who had a yard sale last year, and after I bought a scooter from here, she said "Hey Jo, you knit... take this wool." (I hate when all yarn gets called wool... this stuff hardly qualified as "wool"...) So it's been occupying a corner, and it's about time I did something with it... get rid of it, or make something out of it. I'd like to get some nice wool to occupy that space!

Ooooo! big BTW... a yarn shop finally opened in Burlington. Gotta go check it out! Spun Fibre Arts - owned by my former naturopathic doctor... I couldn't believe it! Sit and knit is tomorrow. Gonna try to make it out...

Bact to the blankie... It's putting my in mind of Nan actually. she's knit/quilt/craft with whatever she had on hand. Her quilts may not have won any state fairs, but they grace every bed in this household and keep us warm during the long Canadian winters... btw... will it ever end? geez, it's cold! enough already... so I'll knit up these squares from time to time, when the feeling hits and I need some mojo... the finished project will be religated to the tv room, where the kids will use it make forts, the dog will lay on it, and anyone who feels a little chilly can snuggle into it.

This one's for you Nan. I'm calling "Home by and by." I miss you.

It finally happened!!

Hello dear little blog,

What joy this morning... I awoke to the sounds of the birdies outside my window, twittering away... the sun barely peaking through the curtains... I felt rested. Sigh.

AHHHHHHHHH!!! It happened! It finally happened!!! Jaden slept through the night! Woohoo!

Is he not the cutest thing in the world??!!
















It's been a whirlwind lately, but here's the breakdown of all the fun:

1/ Went to make myself a cup of tea a few days ago. Jaden was playing happily, and when I looked in on him, here he was.... He had rolled over and was displaying mixed emotions. Part "Wow, look what I just did!" and part: "Oh crap, what did I just do??" Very cute.

2/ Spent a great weekend at the CafazZoo... it was awesome. We celebrated Easter together. We also had a Passover meal... I know, I know... Passover was Tuesday... we're not Jewish... but we were celebrating the fulfillment of Passover - Jesus, the Lamb of God, our Y'shua. It was deep and incredibly meaningful. How amazing that God gave His people a revelation of their Messiah and true Deliverer - a hint of what was to come... not just deliverance from Egypt, from deliverance from the bondage of sin and death. Every minute detail of the Passover has significance and is a foreshadowing of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. How amazing. Baruch ata Adonai!

3/ Annie loves the Boy. We do too. He's probably still recovering from the kids tackling him and using him as their personal jungle gym. He tolerated it well. So we decided: Yup. He'll do.

4/ We celebrated 3 birthdays… Hannah who was proud to turn 5 – which she announced very loudly from the back of the church Sunday morning when the Rev. asked if there were any birthdays… Annie nears her ¼ of a century mark, continuing in maturity as a woman and in the Lord… and then there was Boozer Babes... although she is hardly a babe any longer, crossing the threshold of her Sweet 16.


Boozer Babes gets her first car... Hot Wheels...













Musical-obsessed Boozer Babes flippin out over her Wicked b-day card from N8.















As a family, we gathered around her to pray and bless her. Was there a dry eye in the house? Don’t think so. (Thank you Jesus for waterproof mascara!) (sorry the photo's a bit dark... forgive me, N8)

5/ Hannah asked if she could play with Jaden, and I smiled to myself, thinking how beautiful to see the bond between sister and brother developing. However, when I peaked around the corner, I realized that she wanted to play with him… as if he were her little play thing. Even Bosco got in on the action.
























6/ Knitting news: started a wee raglan sweater in 2-toned blue cotton for Jaden. I have some appointments/events coming up that require me to sit and wait, so I thought I’d set my hands to a project that was fairly straightforward and I could just knit mindlessly. I love it! It’s so fulfilling to be growing as a knitter, to see my skills grow so that I can picture something and then knit it. I’m taking notes, and I’ll post the pattern if it works out! (I should probably stop tooting my own horn just in case this flops!!)


















Note: This post was supposed to go up last night but just as I went to upload it, the server crashed. I could hear the voice from the Starship Enterprise speaking – “Unable to comply…” I lost everything, and I was very very very PO’d. I don’t get to post often enough as it is, and then when I do get to it, it crashes. AWK! So I sat down, ate some chocolate and I felt better. Even today, there are still some issues because my images won't upload. I'll try again later, but here's the post for now. BTW… it seems like the sleeping thru the night (STTN) was a one-time deal… sigh…

This and That

Alrighty... a quick wip! Before I could post about it, it was done! Wow! Sewn up and everything! A quick and simple pair of slippers for Jaden, knit out of frustration that of all the socks and booties that I found... I could only find one of each kind. grrrr!! So here they are... on the loveliest little feet... which belong to the loveliest baby who just passed his 5th month. Wow. And he's still getting cuter by the day.




He's massive. Jordan won our family contest to guess his weight at the last check-up - right on the money with 19lbs 7 oz.

He's my little man.

Whoa. Those feet look big.

Life's been busy, but I'm finally into a rhythm... I love Mum's illustration - it's like learning to juggle with an extra ball added, and it takes a bit of time to figure it out. Well, I feel like I'm finding that place. Here's a few things that have helped:

"Once a Month Cooking"

I spent one day cooking and ended up with 32 meals packed away in our new freezer (thank you Mom!!) So now, everyday, I just pull something out and it's all set to go. I just have to pull together the sides. I now have time for other things, which often includes a fussy baby, right at dinner time. (btw... how is it that babies just seem to know when you're trying to make dinner, and kick the groucho factor up to ten???)

The other thing: 15 minutes a day for me and God. Ok, ok... 15 minutes doesn't seem like much... but I wanted to set my sights on God and being close to Him without interruption or distraction... and around here, 15 minutes is about as much as I can come up with until baby starts sleeping thru the night, Jordan learns how to do long division on his own, and Hannah can manage not to get glue in her hair or playdough on the carpet.

Before I go... this is a little late, but we found a funny little leprechaun hanging around on St Patty's Day and I managed to snap a pic of him before he could scurry away to his pot of gold (which looked strangely like a bowl of scooby snacks.....)

Work-in-Perpetuity

My dear little blog,

Please don't be offended that I haven't added to you in quite some time... it's not that I haven't been thinking of you... I have! Often, in fact! Many a time throughout my day I think of you, ponder quaint messages to share with you, take pictures that I might share with you... but alas, I have neglected you.

Sigh.

But I have good news! Genevieve's socks are finally finished (sort of - I just have to graft the toes... oh tortuous process... oh beautiful result...) Mark was starting to call them a "work in perpetuity" ... but I finished them with a sigh... It has taken me four months to complete what I can usually do in four days. Seeing as knitting is a prayerful act for me, a way of meditating on God's heart for the recipient, I usually finish a project with a sigh... all the more so for Genevieve's Welcome With Love socks... it is the closing of a chapter of a most beautiful phase of my life... the journey of meeting two lovely people - our son and our midwife.

But it is just a chapter that has been finished... many more await...

Find Rest

I sit here weeping, as the clock tips over into another day, and I feel so weary.

Joys abound with motherhood and the rewards of homeschooling are beyond compare... and yet, as with all things, there is a cost... and right now, the cost feels like me. Waking up 3 or 4 times a night, lesson plans and teaching time... it's leaving me drained by the end of the day. But tonight, I have this song by Monique Tute on repeat and it is soaking me. (download it for free from ionmusic along with some other great music) As it soaks into my heart, the weariness is fading away. Thank you Jesus.

Find rest, my soul, in God

Find rest my troubled heart

Find rest my weary body

Find rest, find rest

For He alone is your salvation

He's your strength, you will never be shaken

He's your rock and your provision

He's your only hope

And you'll find rest...

To have rest, I must find it. I must pursue it, look for it, search for it, obtain it by effort. My rest must come first to my heart before my body will receive the benefits of it. How many nights have we finally laid down to "rest" but our hearts are troubled, our minds anxious?

I am thankful for quiet sacred moments with my new son, the waking times at night, when I can pull him close to me and curl around him. He is most precious to me. Herein lies my perspective: everything in life costs something. There's no free lunch. Our culture tells us we can have it all, but the One who made it all says it doesn't quite work that way. It's the whole "equal and opposite reaction" thing. The cost of welcoming a beautiful new soul into our family is sleep (or lack thereof to be more accurate.) The blessing of having a warm house to live in means I have to clean it... clothing to wear? = laundry to do.

So I will strenuously pursue rest. My weeping is over, and I go to cuddle my new favourite human being. restful at heart. restful in body. sigh.

I'm so thankful for the truth of God's word, inspiring music that feeds the soul. But I am most thankful for Him, and Him alone.

I will never be shaken. He is my hope. He is my only hope.

-32??

Brrrrr.... a frigid -18 out there this morning... feels like -32 with a windchill warning for Halton region. Our cranky furnace is sputtering and wheezing and churning away, but the house still feels like an igloo. There is a reason for igloos being associated with Canada!! Hannah has abandoned her room - the coldest one in the house, and barred her door shut. She's rescued her favourite toys but vows not to return until the climate changes. (Could be a while.) She's sharing with Jordan right now, and the two of them are cuddling up for warmth. It's just like Little House on the Prairie. Way too cute.

I have managed to pull a few projects of the needles:
I've finally turned the heel on Genevieve's second sock. Finally!

Started and finished Jamie's trummed mittens. Poor kid - he suffers terribly from chronically cold hands, so what could be better than a good pair of warm woolies??? I finished them late Saturday night while watching Star Trek Insurrection (my fav ST movie) - good mojo since Jamie is also a Trekkie. Took the picture on the way to church Sunday morning... then the battery died, so no pic with Jamie wearing them. :(










Started thrummed mitts for Chris. Finished one slipper for Jaden.

Jordan has been sporting his Wee Willy Winkle hat a lot - ok... I made it last year, but I'm still proud of it... my first (successful) project with 2 colours and no pattern. Yay me! And of course, I love the fact that Jordan loves it too.














Oh... and we've had another Sammy sighting...









Ok, this sleep-deprived gal needs another cup of tea to ward off the chill while I finish Jaden's slippers... ttfn!