Things that happen when you’re stuck at home

For two days with no car.

the floors get washed. all of them.
the laundry gets done. all of it.
“decor” is  seasonally shifted.
furniture rearranged
furniture reassessed- like do we really need that? the place looks better w/ less furniture
a “to sell on craigslist” pile is established
basement sub flooring gets installed. well, all the pieces we bought. and you thought all I could do was girly crafts.
ran out of bread so i had the time to actually make a halfway decent wheat loaf. IAMSUPERPUMPED ABOUT THIS.
ran out of eggs but couldn’t find a chicken
made a fort out of empty diaper box
worked on flashcards with sweet pea. she definitely know the letters “o” and “a”
toys got lysoled and ran through the dishwasher
area rugs were washed
thought about fertilizing the lawn. thought better of it.
read really silly websites. like www.emailsfromcrazypeople.com prepare to pee your pants.
prayed more.
prayed with sweet pea for both of us to have self control and a good attitude. seemed to work.
assembled a bike trailer to bike to the library… only for it to fall off the bike before you turned out of the driveway. shoulda asked for a tutorial from the husband….

clearly more happened ’round here in the past 48 hours than has in the past two weeks. And as happy as I am with all the accomplishments, I’m looking forward to getting out tomorrow for our first MOPS meeting of the year!!!

My family buried a great man today. My great uncle Frank slipped quietly into the arms of Jesus early Sunday morning.

He was 93. Uncle Frank taught me how to garden and even bought me all my first plants when I was about 12. Tomatoes, peppers, zuchinni, eggplant… He was thrilled to teach me more about his passion for growing food.

He was enamored by the simple things in life- how amazing it was that one could put a seed into the ground and after some time and care, that seed became a plant that bore fruit. He said that year after year. His son joked today at the funeral that while the flowers at the altar were beautiful, his dad would have been equally pleased, if not moreso, with large arrangements of burdock, dandelion, and mustard greens.

My uncle Frank was a veteran of WW2, just like my grandfather was and countless others from that generation. The coffin was draped with an American flag, men in uniform gave a salute, taps was played.

We filed past Uncle Frank’s casket and out of the mosaleum. Everyone got into their cars and headed out for the breakfast at a local banquet hall.

I went to get into my car, but thought better of it. I walked the fifty yards or so to Uncle Frank’s waiting grave, next to my grandfather’s.

Brother in laws.

Side by side.

I looked at the tombstones, which I remember them deciding on and buying together. I remember the disagreements over inscriptions, how Frank and Anna’s tombstone would say “Together Forever” and that my grandmother wanted that on hers too… but my grandfather thought it was too sappy.

I laughed.

I smiled, even as I stood at the foot of my grandfather’s grave, becuase I knew he wasn’t there. He was absent from the body, but present with the Lord.

And now Uncle Frank is too. Standing on his own two feet, perfect, whole.

The little gardener who wasn’t

She was interested in helping her daddy garden. Really, she was.

Then she saw me, with the shiny silver camera.

Gotta go, Dadd-i-o. No time for pictures.

Must. Get. The. Camera. Maybe if I keep smiling she’ll keep taking pictures and I’ll snatch it out of her unsuspecting hands Muahahahah!!!!

I did manage to get the camera out of the way… within nanoseconds of being manhandled by sticky, apple juicy, garden grubby little fingers.

So much for documenting the cuteness of Sweet Pea gardening. Maybe I should get those camoflague cameras that hunters use.

prayers for flight 3407

Please pray for the Buffalo community, for those who’s loved ones were aboard flight 3407, for the family who’s home was destroyed by the crash, for the surrounding homes that were evacuated, for all those affected by this tragedy.

I remember my grandfather telling me that when he first came home from the war and a plane went overhead, he used to run for cover. I am sure that same fear runs through many residents of Long Street.

Buffalo is a small town, in the sense that we’re only a degree or two separated from one another. All of us knew somebody or knew somebody who knew somebody.

Random Thankfulness

Beyond the biggies for which I am thankful*, I am thankful for:

• The bagpiper who plays in the park behind the house. It was a fun thing to wake up to on Thanksgiving morning!
• sticky notes
• index cards of many colors
• stationery. (I have a slight addiction to pretty paper)
• yarn
• fun fabric
• that Keith was willing to hang curtains in the “craft room” at 9 pm last night.
• my kitchenaid mixer
• running sneakers
• double dry marathon sports bra (oh so necessary for nursing moms that run)
• that it’s ok I didn’t come close to finishing my NaKnitSweMo project
• that it’s ok I didn’t finish my soctoberfest project on time.
• pie nights
• cookie dough
• SNOW!
• Life Application Study Bible

* you know, faith, family, health, friends……. I love all those too!

My baby’s one!!!

Yay for surviving and thriving year number ONE!!!

Knitting and Life

As I was working on the baby cape, I realized that I made a mistake. I was one stitch off in my counting- somewhere along the decreases and button holes I made a mistake.

The horror!

I was exhausted after a long day and just wanted to enjoy and evening of chilling on the couch with my husband while knitting. Of course, finding a mistake made me ever so slightly uptight and grumpy. Actually, I was RATHER uptight and grumpy about the whole thing.

I couldn’t go on without fixing the problem and yet I had no idea where in the sea of garter stitch I had goofed. Unable to go forward, yet not sure where to go back to.

My dear husband asked me in my distress if there were any life lessons in knitting, trying to get my mind off the missing stitch.

Why, yes, there are life lessons I have learned in knitting! What in particular did I learn from this?

Sometimes you can make a mistake and not realize it until much, much later. You can’t go on in good conscience unless that mistake is taken care of, that wrong made right. The end product would not be all it was meant to be unless the mistake was fixed! It can be difficult to go back and fix it (like over 600 stitches painstakingly undone one by one) but once it’s fixed, the road ahead is much smoother.

What have you learned from knitting?

Dear Sirs Who Want To Be President

Just wanted to let you know that there are rules to debating……. and that Mr. Brokaw was supposed to be the boss last night. You are asked questions, you are supposed to answer those questions in the allotted amount of time. You don’t ALWAYS get to respond to your opponents answers.

Maybe we should go “old school” on debates and have a buzzer for you two like we did in debate club. That would be sweet.

Also, next time, could you say something with more substance than your campaign talking points?

Thanks.

-A voter in NY

Adventures

Motherhood has most certainly been an adventure for me. Since Sweet Pea’s birth, I’ve had ups and downs, and been round and round, like most new moms!

I have been exhausted, sleep deprived, and unable to find the time to do my hair.

I have felt panic -oh my gosh she didn’t wake up at 3 am to eat… is she still alive?- then pure joy upon the realization that she had slept 5 hours IN.A.ROW.

I have melted at the sight of her first non-gastrointestinally-induced smile and emerging personality.

I have had struggles with introducing solid foods (ahem, still struggling).

I’ve felt exasperated by the unsolicited advice from well meaning folks (hi mom, love you).

I’ve been much, much too sensitive to criticism. What? I’m not perfect???

I’ve felt the strain on my soul and my marriage when I put ME first, instead of GOD first.

I’ve been overwhelmed by the never-ending job of babyproofing the house, the endless basket of laundry, the diapers that never seem to hold it all in. yuck.

I’ve been elated at my child’s accomplishements.

I’ve been overwhelmed with love for my baby.

I’ve grown closer to my husband as we ventured into these unchartered waters of parenthood together.

I’ve had a captive audience as I practice guitar, one who claps and sings even when I don’t remotely hit the chords right!

And I love that we are our own little family.

Through it all, motherhood has truly given me a glimpse of God, and just how wide, how long, how high and how deep the love of Christ really is. And no matter where you are at, at the top of the roller coaster or stuck on the tilt-a-whirl, He is there with His perfect unconditional love.

This year our theme for MOPS is “Adventures in Mothering” and I have been so blessed to have such an awesome group of mothers to come along for the ride.

scattered

My mind/blog/life has been a bit scattered lately, as evidenced by my nightstand:

Keith joked that he didn’t know our house was the new town library. There are more books on the floor.

From the top, and why:

1- The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman- our anniversary was the week I took this photo and we thought we’d read up on one another’s love language again

2- What to Expect the First Year- what first time mom doesn’t have this one in reach?

3- The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren- Keith and I led a small group study on this book many moons ago and my brother, who works for Obama *, needed a synopsis of the book before the big Saddleback event that took place in August. Why yes, little bro, I will write some cliffnotes for you to write a memo for a presidential candidate.

4- Busy Woman’s Guide to Prayer, by Cheri Fuller- somebody lent this to me but I think I’m giving it back. I haven’t even looked at it other than the bright pink cover.

5- The Nursing Mother’s Companion, by Kathleen Huggins- great book if you are new to the whole nursing deal and don’t have a close friend or relative to ask those “stupid” questions. I loved it but then again, there were some sections and opinions that you just have to take with a grain of salt (like every parenting/ child book). I think I pulled this out again after I got, um, bit. Teething is not fun!

6- Building Your Mate’s Self Esteem, by Barbara & Dennis Rainey- another anniversary type mindset thing on growing and building up your spouse…

7- Your Baby and Child- a hand-me-down gift that I have barely skimmed.

8- Getting Stronger, by Bill Pearl- weight training manual because I. AM. A. MACHINE. AT. THE. GYM. yeah! Actually, Keith bought this a loooooong time ago and I busted it out this year when I got serious at the gym

9- The Purpose Driven Life Journal- see #3. I never wrote in it, so if you want it, let me know. Its just collecting dust.

10- Streams in the Desert Journal- love love love love love this devotional.

11- My calendar/agenda- I used this calendar to keep track of when Sweet Pea nursed, slept, etc in those early months.I got it out again to show a friend that she was not alone in the chaos of taking care of a newborn. One line in particular I shared was “Oh my word, she has nursed for the better part of an hour and is hungry AGAIN? I JUST WANT A SHOWER!!!!”

12- Some random photo box

13- Morning and Evening, by Spurgeon- love love love love this devo too. This is the kind of writing that you have to chew on for a while

14- Mount Vernon Love Story, by Mary Higgins Clark- a fictionalized account of George & Martha Washington’s love story. Keith and I take turns reading aloud before bed. I know. We’re cheesy.

15-My old journal & random MOPS stuff

So yeah. Not a knitting book in sight. I’m hopeful that I’ll be back in the groove soon. It’s all good.

* Yes, my bro works for the guy but I’m not endorsing either way. I just wanted to help my brother do his job well!