projects

Life has been full of many projects lately...

We have been hosting cousins and a grandma the last couple Mondays and loving it.  This Monday was filled with dyeing: first eggs and then using the leftover dye to color some fabric.  Watching the colors magically transform the white to rainbows of brilliant colors was exciting for all of us.  Welcome spring, truly. 

a day

Nate and I have so very many full days.  Days full of places to go, things to see, people to connect with.  This past month was intensely full and there were days when I worried that Nate and I would forget what it was like to have 'nothing' to do.  To have to chart our own course for a day; no errands to run, no one waiting for us to meet them, a genuine unplanned day.  Last Friday finally provided us with such a day.  And I couldn't believe I had spent even a moment worrying- of course Nate and I would have a great day- even better than that, it was an awesome day!  Most of it involved snuggles and books, good chunks of it involved eating, but my favorite portion by far was going through an entire bottle of bubbles in one sitting (without any spillage) and having our neighbors come over to play in them with us.  Just yet another reminder that sometimes,probably most times, no agenda is the best agenda. 

Nathaniel

Oh dearest boy of mine,

You are five today.  Five.  A whole hand.  You seem so much older than that small number, yet at the same time I feel like I'm still only beginning to know you.  I am blessed beyond measure to be your mother, to get to be witness to the amazing things you say, you think, you create.  You teach me on a daily basis what it means to really be here in this world.  You have taught me whole new meanings of friendship, you have taught me what it means to bring your true self to the world. 

I love you.  So very much. 

Happiest of birthdays and enjoy 5 years old!

love, me

wonder

Growing up, my grandma had the most beautiful little vignettes on her buffet in the dining room. They always involved the smallest of people and houses, with fluffy snow and little scenes of wonder.  About halfway through the month, my mom began to find some of the pieces that my grandmother had used and started putting them out on various tables throughout her house.  Nate began arranging some of the pieces on one of the table- arranging and rearranging with each visit.  One morning when I was leaving Nate with my mom for a couple hours I mentioned that she might want to clear her own buffet in her foyer, add some fake snow, and have Nate help create a scene. 

The wonderful mother she is- she listened!  And when I arrived back that afternoon, this scene was there to greet me, and every other person visiting her house.  Each place was carefully chosen by Nate, creating stories along the way.  It is truly a work of wondrous art and I'm wondering what might replace it in the coming weeks...

ramblings

One of the most shocking things I've learned while being a parent is that each day I look at Nate, I am looking into a mirror.  And what happens when I'm afraid of what I see in the mirror?  Or it makes tears spring to my eyes?  Or makes my heart thump so hard it hurts?

And then that mirror turns transparent and I see that he is just himself.  A boy who will be turning 5 in just a couple weeks.  His own person, with his own style of relating to the world. 

I know there is so much more to this post.  But my brain is caught in the whirl of the week before Christmas.  Another time, I'm sure.

in gratitude

I am grateful for impromptu neighborhood parades and the silly hats they entail.  For friends, children, and dancing to marching bands in the twilight.  Hurray!

oh so busy

 We have been oh so busy.  And, yes, maybe I over-schedule us, but at this point we are loving it.  As much as I read and hear- keep it simple, less is more, and all those lovely mantras, I've come to realize that's just not me.  I enjoy the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.  I like stretching my socializing a bit more during December and it makes me happy to be busy and connecting with such a wide variety of people and projects.  So, I will keep on keeping on being busy because, right now, it's making me so darn happy.  And so very soon it will pass and it will be quiet and it will be slow again.  And I will embrace that as well.  In the meantime, bring on the projects, bring on the parties, bring on the crafts, bring on the gifting...woohoo!

our 'new' chalkboard door.  love it!

a gift for jed for our anniversary on the 26th

the project nate and i made for 'create something beautiful' (day 2 of advent)

a surprise :)

more surprises :)

the banner I created for jed was transformed into a december wish banner...yep, nate wishes for more art!

it has begun!

Today is the first day of of December, the beginning of advent and truly the most wonderful time of the year.  I had hoped to include a picture of the advent calendar that I made for Nate but then I realized that I wouldn't get pictures until after we set it up and (here's the big secret) I normally write my posts the night before you see them so no pictures yet :)  We'll see if I get them together by tonight...you never know.  Pictures are now up!!!

It was SO very much fun to create this project.  I started with the idea that I wanted to make an advent calendar with a different activity each day.  I knew the activities and the calendar itself had to be simple or I wouldn't follow through in making it, let alone completing the activities each day.  At the same time I had in the back of my mind the idea of the Jesse Tree.  I had come across a story about the Jesse Tree a few years ago and was intrigued.  The idea of a Jesse tree comes from the Bible:

The Jesse Tree is named from Isaiah 11:1: "A shoot will spring forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots."  It is a vehicle to tell the Story of God in the Old Testament, and to connect the Advent Season with the faithfulness of God across 4,000 years of history. .  link

So...I decided to make a Jesse Tree Advent Calendar.  I found a great example for choosing ornaments to hang each day as well as the corresponding Bible stories from Nate's children's Bible at this site. I used the outline that she created and then matched each day with an activity for Nate to do that would reinforce the Bible verse/lesson that we read that morning.  So, on December 2, Nate will open the envelope with a 2 on it, find a sun ornament and a label telling him what the activity is for the day.  We'll learn that today is 'Creation' and will read Genesis 1.  Then we'll create something beautiful to share with others.

Oh, I am so beside myself with excitement to see how Nate receives this calendar.  I love that it's more than a countdown to Christmas presents and that each day can serve as a reminder of God's love for us and our love for each other.  That we will get to take time each day working on projects that will serve a greater purpose than just mere 'decorations' or 'holiday decorations.'  Oh joy!  It has truly begun.

if wishes were kisses

I never want to forget that at the end of his 4th year, Nate only wished for more kisses. 

When finding a dandelion, "I wish for more kisses." 
While tossing a coin in a fountain, "I wish for more kisses." 
While blowing an eyelash off the finger, "I wish for more kisses." 

Each time, said with eyes closed but just loud enough for a mama to hear.  How could I not grant this sweet boy's every wish? 

p.s.
I googled the title after I wrote it because it sounded way too familiar and lo and behold, good old Parry Como wrote a song by the same title...but that's not what this post is about- that's just a lovely, nerdy aside. 

what we make matters

Even if it's not the most polished piece.  Even if it's not how we envisioned it when we first began our work.  Even if it exists for the span of 10 minutes and is destroyed or gone when clean-up time comes along.

What we make matters.  That we make matters.  That we enjoy time together creating, making, being matters.

oh, how we love to bake

There is nothing more delicious than eating a fresh baked banana muffin.  No, I take that back...there is nothing like the process of making fresh baked banana muffins with small helpers and then watching them devour them so quickly you can't even get a picture of the finished product :)  Yippee for baking with cousins!

paper + stickers + kids

Thank goodness I finally cleaned out my 'teacher cabinet' in the garage!  We have had nothing but good times with the different materials I found and organized.  I will never cease to be amazed by the amount of focused attention (almost) 2 and 4 year olds can have when engaged with projects of their own imagination.  Three cheers for cardstock, stickers, punch out stamps, crayons and glue! 

the doctor is out

Skipping music monday today because our weekend was way to full to not post about right away!

 

We had one incredible weekend- filled with parties, and festivals and treats.  The above pics are from our visit to our church's harvest festival- the most amazingly fun and perfect Halloween event out there.  We took a John Deere drive, a doctor and Minnie Mouse this year.  Off to go trick or treating with friends around the neighborhood tonight- keeping my fingers crossed for peanut butter cups :)

priorities

I took a new yoga class this week (that totally kicked my butt) with an instructor I've never had before.  During final relaxation she shuffled a deck of affirmation cards and laid one by each of our feet to look at when we opened our eyes.  My card was 'Priorities- decide what is important and start with that first.'  Being at 'home' now makes it more difficult to prioritize my time based on 'what's most important' to me.  Of course my family is important, my own sanity and health is important, creating something each day is important, learning to slow down is important.  The word nerd that I am, I looked up the definition of priorities and got:

prioritiesplural of pri·or·i·ty (Noun)

Noun:

A thing that is regarded as more important than another. The fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important

I find it impossible to rank any of the things I hold dear in my life.  Instead, I'd rather the word had been balance, as that's something I find I work on daily- a way to balance all of the things and people that I love each day. I feel like there's more that I want to say, but you see,  one of my priorities is growling in my ear and tickling my toes and I think it's time for us to have a monster truck race.  Balancing the priorities perhaps?