one last post

I probably won't post again until Sunday eve or Monday morn as my parent's are here for the weekend. See ya'll later.

embroidery on the girls' clothes (more envy)

embroidered eclipse tea towels (more envy)

self-indulgence and guilty pleasures

I've been goofing off tonight - and as a result, I am jealous!! I haven't posted projects anywhere for awhile because all I am working on is Christmas gifts...but after looking through Lisa's site (http://www.groggyfroggy.blogspot.com/). I just have to put up some backstuff so I look creative...

This is a thrifted tray that I painted, distressed, and decoupaged for my MIL's birthday...

me and k

we took a walk today when C was in pre-school

I love this song

cause it speaks to the heart of me...I am a perennial wanderer...I wish I was rooted more steadfastly - wandering is not necessary for growth or experience...

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I'll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

coyote song

the percussive music of coyotes always unnerved Mary,
the leader’s ululating melody
with staccato counterpoint from the pack
seemed to nibble at the edges of her dreams.

at night the damage was invisible but come morning
when dreams are shaken out and held up to the sun
shadows fell in tatters on the grass, savaged by hungry teeth

stretch

sneaking up on a person

It is funny how sinus infections sneak up on me. I have had yet again an infection sneak up on me and I don't go to the Dr until I am miserable. Last night, I went to Urgent Care and got some antibiotics prescribed to me and now, sigh, I am starting to feel a bit more normal. I really need to make myself be more alert to the warning signs. I am not a very nice Mommy when I feel so sick and headachy - I tend to be snappish. Poor girls.

nail-biter

switching furniture around, again

Yesterday morning, when I went to wake up K, she was sitting on top of the armoire in her room. She apparently climbed from the bed to the armoire. Whene I opened the door and she holds out her arms and says 'help me.'

I called for Dad so he could see and that is all she needed to hear...then she knew it was something remarkable and she starts laughing and says 'funny.' After I get her down she kept jabbering on about how funny she was...she is hard not to laugh at even when she is being naughty!!

Needless to say, her room got rearranged, again.

freedom

the action of memory

the action of memory

on the grid side of the calendar
mary drew a square, executed precise folds,
made little clips with her scissors
and when the tiny box was done
the sun from the photo side
squeezed nicely into the top-left corner
why it was not in the center, pulsing
she did not know

she sucked the paper-cut on her thumb
her teeth pressed into the edges to numb the ache
and it seemed to her that nothing was more obvious
than the rain but for some reason the sky was blue

all that she kept in the box
was a handful of dried buffalo grass
and an empty chrysalis she found
on their walk last Sunday

sisters

Sisters annoy, interfere, criticize. Borrow. Break. Monopolize the bathroom. Indulge in monumental sulks, in huffs, in snide remarks. Are always underfoot. But if catastrophe should strike, sisters are there.Defending you against all comers. ~Pam Brown

sunday

Yesterday was another quiet day. We went to church - Tim and I did our first stint in the nursery. It went well. We had a small bunch of quiet, sweet children. Two little girls in particular liked to cuddle on my lap and be read to. I wonder if Mia didn't like having someone a bit cushy to snuggle against - her Mom is pretty angular. :)

After church it was lunch and long naps. The girls were pretty rambunctious in the afternoon after they woke. Poor K isn't feeling good at all.

journey

"Do you know what the teacher is doing? He is manufacturing minds. He is the wheelwright, the weaver, the blacksmith of that work in which he is God's helper — the future." Victor Hugo

a nurturing mood

Yesterday afternoon, I took a nap because of a painful sinus headache that I could not kick. Late in the afternoon, C came in and told me she loved me, gave me a hug, and said she and Dad would not disturb me. In a few minutes she came in with George her stuffed monkey to keep me company. Later she came in with a couple of bears. Then she got me a handkerchief and told me to unfold it if I needed to use it. Then she went to get my tea if I needed something to drink. Dad wouldn't let her do that for some reason he didn't want tea spilled on the floor.

gobble, gobble

The true American turkey was "wild and wary to the point of genius." G. T. Klein

"For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

"With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country . . .

"I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on." Benjamin Franklin in a letter to his daughter

haircuts and such

Yesterday, after I picked Tim up from work, I took him and C to get their haircut. The wait was rather long so I took K with me so she wouldn't destroy the place. We went to DQ because I thought it would be fun to treat her when it was just the two of us. Usually, we go to DQ on Saturdays as a reward for C if she accumulates enough stars during the week. On Saturdays C gets a small cone and Dad and K share a hot fudge sundae...so I bought K a hot fudge sundae. She didn't eat a bite. She kept saying "I need Daddy, I need Daddy, I need Daddy."

So we went to Archivers and walked around. Something about that place really, really bugs me. But that is a different issue.

a scribble

the sky pierced blue in the eyelets
along the bottom of her skirt

he lay on his back
in the brilliant grass
white floats above him
twirling on its axis
as gentle as guitars
strumming in the distance

he reached up to touch
those knees flirting
just beneath the hem
and like smoke
they shifted on the breeze
and floated away

The photo is the closest thing to a photo with eyelet lace on it. :) It is certainly not my best photo ever. :)

The poem is the first thing I've written in a long time. I've been mentally stimulating myself by working through a poetry workbook and reading. The night I wrote this, I knew I wanted to write something but I didn't have any ideas. I was sitting here at the computer when I saw a basket of eyelet/grommets in my workbasket. While I don't make it clear (I don't really intend to - I like the ambiguity) this is the perspective of a young boy who is crawling around playing on the ground at a party...you know the classic.

a quiet day

Yesterday was a quiet day. I took the girls to the YMCA and then to Costco as we were out of some basics. I made tortellini soup for supper and an apple dessert for Tim. I used Granny Smith's and another variety of apple in the dessert. I do not know what the second apple was but it had the most delightful floral scent. I quietly worked on some crafts. I know that sounds strange to say I quietly worked but it has to do with my mindset while I do it...so often I am half-a-dozen places in my head while crafting - yesterday, I was quietly at home, almost meditative.

a simple life

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all." Laura Ingalls Wilder

It is fascinating that the desire for a simpler life is seen even then, in a time most people would not have considered terribly complicated.

C, my oldest, has recently become a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. We have the unabridged audio tapes for the first two books of the series and she loves them. They are read by "Cherry Jones" who the entire family enjoys as a narrator. As usual it sparks my desire to know more so I am now reading "A Little House Reader" which a compilation of quotes from writings throughout Laura's life. It really is fascinating to me how they lived as they settled the prairie. It also fascinates me to read of the wandering spirit of Pa and how often they moved.

a pic from our walk

We saw this gentleman when we were walking through the 'spooky woods' it looks as if he is meditating. Unfortunately, he wasn't, he was having an animated conversation on his cell phone.

today

My oldest had preschool today. After preschool, I picked her up and we went to Bunker Park, one of our favorite places to explore. We went for a long explore - walking across the floating bridge, playing at the playground half-way, and walking through the spooky woods (as my oldest calls them).

I've spent the afternoon, trying to work on various projects for Christmas. I feel that I lack focus and that I am scattered...I was great on Monday but yesterday and today have been difficult.

so, there you have it

I've decided to try blogging again. It has been over a year, I think, since I've done it. As I can't remember the password to my old blog, I am starting over. I've been thinking about it for awhile as my uncle Philip likes to read them and I thought it might be a nice way to communicate since, I am not so terribly good at keeping up with email these days.

So when my friend Marie pointed me towards her blog, I decided to follow her lead.

Mine will not be so nearly focused as hers, so be it. :)