Yarn Along :: End of March

Ginny's Yarn Along is the perfect opportunity to show you a new crochet stitch I learned that I am absolutely in love with!!! 

 It's called a Solomon's Knot, also a Lover's Knot. Isn't it so pretty and lacey looking? 

I learned it by watching this video on YouTube. The yarn is Caron's Country in Spruce. It was on clearance at Michaels and such a pretty color I couldn't pass it up. Sadly, after I took this picture, I realized I had made my shrug way too long and ended up frogging the whole thing! That's OK. I am enjoying this stitch so much, I don't mind starting over and it works up really quickly once you get going.

Reading wise... I'm not reading much because I can't seem to keep my eyes open long enough to make it through a page. No matter when I sit down to read, I start to get drowsy and want to take a nap. We are listening to the Truth and Life Audio Bible this Lent and that will have to count for now.

Speaking of yarn and great books...don't forget that today is the last day to enter Jenn's raffle!

Don't miss this...

Jennifer is hosting a raffle over at her blog, As Cozy As Spring, in order to raise donations for the disaster stricken people of Japan. Comments close tomorrow at 8pm Texas time. Spread the word!

Spring Project #1 : : From the combox...

Mama Bear, JD says:  

We want to replace our flooring, but I can't mentally go to the place where we move everything! I have been slowly editing my closet over the past few weeks. Yesterday I cleaned out the garage, hooray for spring cleaning!

Here's where I can offer some Auntie Leila like advice. I have always found that clearing everything out of a space is the best place to start! I know it's a hard hurdle to jump over and you have to have someplace out of the way to put things if we are talking about cleaning out a whole room of stuff and not just a dresser. Piling it all in your living room is not going to do anything but make a bigger mess. But taking everything out of our closet and piling it all in the spare room has been such a motivating factor in two ways.

First, it was appalling to me to see the amount of stuff that came out of our closet. Not clothes, mind you! Those went on our bed. I'm talking the stuff I had stored on the upper shelves and the built in shelves (that are now no more). I admit, I am pretty good at organizing my storage spaces and not leaving a lot of wasted space. But that means when you see the amount of stuff that came off those shelves and see it spread across the floor of a room, it's certainly a lesson in humility.

The second effect that clearing out a space has is you see it so empty and open and you really start to question whether or not you want to just pile everything back in it again. I can tell you, looking at those empty shelves just makes me loathe to pack it all back up there. Since we have a wait before the closet floor goes in, we will move some of it back but I am going to be very selective about what stays and what goes. My goal is to get rid of a 1/3 of it!

Anyway, those are my thoughts on how to go about clearing out a space whether it be a garage or a junk drawer. If you can find a way to clear everything out of the room (excepting large furniture items, of course, go for it! It's like starting over with that blank slate you had when you first moved in.

Spring Project #1 : : Closet Makeover

What is it about the spring that inspires fixing up and cleaning out? We deconstructed part of our master closet this weekend and painted it in preparation for new flooring to go in sometime next week. We decided it was time to cover the concrete in our master bedroom and thought we would also take care of the closet at the same time.

I forgot to take some before pictures, so the one in this post will have to do. Previously, it had white carpet and a narrowish built-in shelving unit in the middle which you can see the bottom of in the top left corner of that picture. We decided to remove the built-in shelves so that the flooring wouldn't have to be cut around it and hope, when we are all done, to replace it with a stand alone shelving unit. Removing the shelves, which had already started to crack and split from age, involved bracing the top shelf that was resting on the built-in unit which my Husband did beautifully! He was in charge of the demolition part on Saturday while I painted everything on Sunday. The original paint from 1989 had started to yellow, so a fresh coat of white gave it a clean and crisp feel.

I also took a good look at my clothes and ended up getting rid of a giant black garbage bag full. I hadn't done a clothes clean out in a while mostly because I let the perfect become the enemy of the good. This is a dragon I have to battle a lot and I'm willing to bet that most of you do too. Auntie Leila writes about it so beautifully and practically in this post. Go read it and be inspired!

Doing a closet clean out is always a hard process to start, but so rewarding when accomplished. What usually stops me in my tracks before I even start is the idea that I have to know what the end should look like before I can begin. Nonsense! Instead of wasting time trying to figure out how many skirts I really needed, what the perfect ratio of long sleeve to short sleeve tops is or how many purses is a practical number to own, I simply gave myself the goal of getting rid of some.

For example, I had four button down blouses that were of a similar style that I wear on occasion, not regularly. Instead of letting myself get trapped in that clutter vortex of figuring how many should I keep, or if I should keep any at all, I made the decision to just get rid of some. In this case, I chopped the number in half and kept two although getting rid of one would have still accomplished my goal. Should I decide later that I really only need one, I can toss the other at a later date.

I may not have the perfect wardrobe equation figured out, but who says I have to? I had too much. I needed less. I decreased the number. Simple. Most answers usually are, you know. Simple. We make them harder thereby making the process harder on ourselves.

We weren't going to move everything back in until after the floor goes in but we just found out that might be 5 weeks away. Thankfully they will be able to do the bedroom floor before then so now, our attentions turn there. Project #2!

Feast of the Annunciation

A wonderful Mass this morning, playing Saint Bingo with my littlest man right now... I had to say "Yes" to his sweet request (and now the girls just joined in) and looking forward to a delicious treat tonight. I hope you all have had as lovely a feast day as we have enjoyed so far. We celebrate it always mindful that we do so in the shadow of the Cross!

(It would have been easier to just write "fiat" but since my 13 year old son is something of a car aficionado, I didn't want to tempt any snickering.)

Recipe for this Bride's Cake with Blueberry Filling and White Chocolate Frosting can be found over at Catholic Cuisine.

Surprise or not?

Kate Wicker wrote in her Bits and Pieces post that they will not be finding out the gender of their little one prior to his or her birth and I completely understand and sympathize with her reasoning. We, on the other hand, intend to peek as soon as we can and hope this little one isn't too shy for good reason. We have two boys and two girls already. Of course, the boys would love to have another brother and the girls are rooting for a bundle of pink to dress up and adore. This child will tip the estrogen/testosterone scales (because we don't count the dog) and I think my big kids need as much time to mentally prepare for that as possible. There have already been hesitant questions about changing room configurations and what not. I think their concerns and questions are completely normal for older children who aren't really sure how a baby will fit into their lives and who are trying to figure it all out. I figure that this is one area where we can help them, by finding out ahead of time if the little one is a boy or girl.

There is another reason we have decided to find out and it has to do with our personal past experiences. I remember after Sunshine was born and we had our "perfect family" according to the worldly definition of perfect... one boy and one girl, we decided that needing to know the gender of our third baby wasn't that important. We had plenty of blue stuff and plenty of pink stuff that had only recently been used. We didn't take a peek as we had with the first two and we kept telling everyone we wanted to be surprised. Be very careful when you tell God you want to be surprised! He has quite a sense of humor!

Having carried a boy and a girl already, early on I started feeling like #3 was a boy. From my morning sickness to the way I carried, everything about the way I felt made me think I was having a boy. I even made a very simple baptismal gown with a pilgrim collar and bow tie and decorated it with silver ribbon. Not overtly boyish, but certainly not frilly.

When the day came and my midwife announced, "It's a... It's A GIRL!" we were most. definitely. surprised! But then, and maybe this was just me, I felt... guilty. I didn't feel like I knew this beautiful baby girl. I had spent the past 7 months thinking she was a he. We hadn't even finalized a girl's name when we went to the hospital (I didn't think I'd need it) and in fact ended up changing Shortcake's name twice before her birth certificate was officially filed. I looked at the simple, plain baptismal gown I had made and looked at my husband and blubbered, "I have to go find her something frilly to wear right now!!! It has to have lace and poofy sleeves and pleating!!!" OK, so maybe that was the post-partum hormones talking. I couldn't imagine putting her in that thing I had made because I had unknowingly let myself imagine it was for a boy child. (BigBoy ended up wearing it when he came along and I thought he looked quite dashing in it.)

So, it was then that I realized that some women can handle the surprise and some can't.

I can't.

And I'm OK with that. : )


What about you... do you enjoy the surprise or not?


P.S. My mother maintains that she knew all along that Shortcake was a girl and that I should have just listened to her!

Children Will Listen

One of my favorite singers singing one of my favorite songs that Stephen Sondheim (who's birthday is today) wrote. I'm sure the suffering of his childhood influenced this song, but it is a beautiful song...

A Baby Boy Shower

...on St. Joseph's Day!

Blue hydrangeas and white gerber daises

I posted some of my plans over at Catholic Cuisine and updated with pictures of the food, but I wanted to share a few more pictures here to remember this joyous day. My SIL, who is expecting another little boy in April, was the celebrated mommy yesterday. Together, we specifically chose St. Joseph's feast day as the perfect day to celebrate their new little man's impending arrival. She and her husband have always had a very strong devotion to this gentle saint and have enjoyed his patronage of their growing family. Since this baby is their second boy, my sweet SIL didn't really want a traditional shower. So we called it a "girls' luncheon", gave it an Italian theme in honor of those crazy Italians who just love good ole San Guiseppe and had fun letting the big and little girls play while we showered tiny booties and blankies on the expectant mom. 

And speaking of blankies, the quiltie I made for this little man had a vintage travel theme on the back side. My BIL and SIL enjoy traveling so I thought this fabric was perfect for them. It's decorated with very boyish colors and seemed a twist on the typical planes and trains for baby boys.

Planes, trains and automobiles

I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked, but when you are enjoying the company of guests who wants to hide behind a lens? Here are a few...

The girls helped set up our St. Joseph's Altar. We haven't have a chance to pick out our traditional foods yet. For those of you who don't know what a St. Joseph's Altar is, you can find out all about it over at Evann's site. We do ours a little differently, choosing non-perishable foods that we can donate to a local food pantry. It's a small way we honor the charity of good St. Joseph.

Some of the menu items included a cold Pasta Primavera Salad, and Spinach Potato Frittata with Pesto Crostini...

 

For dessert, my MIL sent these beautiful, homemade Pizzelles (above) and I made a Cream Puff Cake (below). Most of these recipes can be found over at Catholic Cuisine.

I made two Cream Puff Cakes... one with and one without Nutella.

I also made these sweet lily lollipops as favors for the ladies who came. You can find the instructions for making them also over at Catholic Cuisine. They turned out so pretty and delicate. You could make them for Easter or the feast of the Annunciation or even for St. Gabriel's feast day!

St. Joseph, patron of families, pray for us!

 

St. Patrick's Day

~the K.I.S.S. version! (Keep It Simple, Sweetie!)

After a morning trip to the dentist for 5 out of 6 of us and an afternoon filled with sinus headaches for most of us and fatigue for the pregnant mommy, our St. Patrick's Day festivities were significantly simple. Some potato leek soup...

...and soda bread was a welcome sight on the menu (easy on the mommy and easy on the teeth!)

(I love the beautiful cross that formed on top!)

...followed by a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream (hey, it's green!)

...topped with Shamrock Shortbread cookies I found at a local grocery store a few weeks ago and had stashed in my pantry.
(The kids thought I had made them so BigBoy wondered why they had chest hair.)

I call it a day! Happy Feast of St. Patrick to you!

May the love and protection St. Patrick can give,

Be yours in abundance as long as you live!

Crown of Thorns

A sweet reader asked for more information about our crown of thorns pictured in the post below. I have had this thing for ages, it seems. I remember making it when we were living in our first house and that was at least 8 1/2 years ago.

Here is how to make one, if you are so inclined. You will need a grapevine wreath like this one (mine has a 12 inch diameter), a bottle of black liquid RIT dye (don't bother with the mess of the powdered stuff) and a box of wooden toothpicks. I used the rough, squared shaped toothpicks, not the smooth round ones. I'm not sure if it makes a difference for dyeing them, but I like the look of the squared ones better. You can see in the picture below that they will pick up different shades. Some look brown and some look blackish purple while others look gray. Hmmmm... I save the toothpicks in a baggie and store them with the wreath so I don't have to make new ones every year so maybe mine are just old and worn.

Place the toothpicks in a craft bowl, not a food bowl (a disposable bowl would work great) and pour in enough dye to cover them. Let them sit in the dye for about an hour. Pull one out and dry it off with a paper towel. If it is black enough for your liking, pull the others out and let them dry on paper towels. If not, leave them in for another half hour or so. Make sure you have something protecting your table or counter underneath the paper towels because you are working with black dye here. You might consider placing the paper towels on a piece of tin foil or wax paper.

Once they are all dry (I think I let mine dry over night but it probably won't take that long) place them in the grapevine wreath. Wedge them in all over. You will find that certain slots are just perfect for wedging a toothpick in and the tension of the vines will hold it in place. If a toothpick happens to slide through completely, put it in a new spot.

The idea is that the thorns represent Our Lord's many pains and sufferings for our salvation. When we make a sacrifice or offer an extra prayer, we remove a thorn hoping in some small way that our sacrifice will help make amends for the sins that caused the suffering Our Precious Lord endured. My children have tried sacrifice beans and sacrifice beads during past Lents but keep coming back to this symbolic act as the one that appeals to them most.

 

Idea from Michelle Q. in the combox: You can use strong coffee to dye your toothpicks if you can't find any RIT dye.

Pray

It has begun. Things will be quieter here. Occasionally comments may be closed. You can always reach me via email. My prayers are focused right now on this grieving family suffering a tragedy beyond comprehension. If you feel so inclined and are able, please consider sending a token of charity to the address for the relief fund at the bottom of this article.

 

Last Minute Lenten Post

So my kids sprung it on me at bedtime tonight that they would each like their own Lenten Calendar this year, but drawn by Mommy, like all the others from their memory, and not just printed off. So using my past poster-sized calendars as a guide, since the theme and design is usually always the same,...

(2009)

(2007)

I drew a small one and am now sharing it with you even though I felt very rushed making it tonight:

Printable Lenten Calendar

Should you be interested in a very lovely one, pop on over to Kimberlee's blog and download the one her children made for this year! And now I have a giant little lamb to go draw, thanks Karen! She always gives credit to the anonymous inspiration for the idea so I like to give credit to her for sharing it with us and making it a meaningful part of BigBoy's childhood!

Masks

These turned out better than we ever expected and were so much fun to make! Can you guess who made which one? Hint: I made one for myself and one for Husband. The children each made their own.

You'll find more information and more pictures on our cookies masks over at Catholic Cuisine. 

 

Mardi Gras Masks

My kids asked if we were going to make mardi gras masks again this year. Um... why didn't you ask mommy that last week? I had no supplies to make masks! Or so I thought. A quick Google search led me to this place where you can print three different templates on card stock and decorate them. I highly recommend glueing two layers of card stock together before cutting them out. Makes them sturdier! They are a little on the small size if you have big kids. I couldn't figure out how to make them bigger on my printer, so I just printed them at their regular size and cut bigger following the shape of the mask. Does that make sense?

Of course, decorating supplies were courtesy of the craft closets we keep in the garage. Glitter glue, sticky gems, non-sticky gems, sequins, markers and ribbon... oh my! I even had some bamboo skewers to use. This craft cost us nothing but some printer ink. The children are still working on theirs so I will post later with an update.

It might seem frivolous to some to work on a paper craft project for today when we are only going to throw it away tomorrow. I don't plan to. While we worked, we talked about the mask of sin that we all wear. Sin can be beautiful and enticing on the outside. It can look like fun and make you feel like the life of the party, but it is just a mask, smothering the true beauty of virtue. That's not to say that these masks represent sinfulness because we certainly enjoyed making them and that might send a mixed message, but rather they remind us of what true beauty is and that we should be striving for it.

Off to go make cookie masks!

Poll

This is totally for the sake of curiosity! Would you mind answering my little question?
How many times do you run your dishwasher in a day?

I would love to know in the combox (ignore any reference to a sidebar poll, I deleted it) how many people live in your house and how many times a day you run your dishwasher. If you don't use a dishwasher, could you leave a comment telling me how many times you wash dishes by hand? I am assuming that most people with a dishwasher will still have at least one load of hand washing to do, but maybe that's a wrong assumption and you can tell me so below. It really is just curiosity. No data mining going on here, I promise!

Thanks!

Piano Man

It was like a field trip that came to us. Our piano needed to be tuned and one of the keys was sticking a bit so Mr. Mike came and took the whole thing apart, tuned it and cleaned it. We were amazed! Seeing the kids' interest, he made sure to explain just about everything to them and he let me take pictures.

Yep! There's an app for that! I took this picture for my all-things-Apple loving husband. Mr. Mike said that his ear always overrules the app if he decides because he's been doing this so long. He was taught by a blind man how to tune pianos. The ear knows best!

Muting the strings with the felt allows him to hear only the outer tone.

When he took off the lower panel to vacuum, I couldn't resist taking a picture of the bridges and the sound board. It was a wonderful, educational opportunity that happened right in our own living room. The best kind, if you ask me!