Saturday, February 28, 2015

pompadours and poodle skirts

My cute girl in her Jr. High play 

Friday, February 27, 2015

Happiest of birthdays to my Lucinda girl and her twin cousin Camille! Lucy was born in the early hours of a cold, but sunny day in Fujisawa, Japan. Camille was born 30 hours later across the world on the same Sunday evening. We've never lived close to them, but I'm so happy that they're still good friends smile emoticonThey even have matching moles on their necks -- like a sweet promise to find one another heart emoticon
Lucinda helped me out with a rousing rendition of happy birthday to... herself


Sunday, February 15, 2015

"Feels like -14" I'm super excited to go out today unsure emoticon

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Happy Valentines Day!

The homeschooling group that we're in held a Valentines party for the kids at the Bloomington police station.  The boys were mostly excited to actually be at the police station, haha!  But they enjoyed the treats and games, too.  There are a few kids with allergies so we made these cute little cards with pencils and glow sticks.
They got this book at the library and Phin wanted to reenact the cover:
Happy Valentines day to you!  Hope your day was as sweet as this little face!

Thursday, February 12, 2015

just do the thing

Oh my!  It is hard to find motivation in the bitter depths of February -- my friend just shared this and it's perfect 

Here is what I've been doing, instead of the THING

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

books, books, books

Last November I read the book, "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" and I loved it!  I immediately set to work and went through my clothes first.  On one hand, it was very very difficult for me because I do have clothes that I love, but that haven't fit me for several years.  This stirs up a lot of angst, to say the least. But I pushed through and was able to get rid of a lot of things that had made the cut in the past.  I really love her idea of touching each item and asking if it brings you joy.  I am not incredibly minimalist so I am sure that I kept more than other people would, but some of the things really make me happy, so they stayed.  My closet is arranged in a lovely rainbow and my drawers are organized in happy stacks and sushi rolls.  So today I decided to tackle books!  We have books stashed all over the house!
And there were even more!  I decided to go down to subcategories: children's, young adult, cookbooks, music books, and the rest.  Here are all of the adult (not that kind of adult) books out on the two sofas in the library.
And the funniest was finding this cleaning book stuck in the back of the very top shelf!
I ended up getting rid of over 200 books!  Some I was surprised to sell for quite a bit on Amazon and some were donated to bring joy to someone else.


Monday, February 9, 2015

wake up, it's 1984

My six year old just got really mad about something and then hit the three year old. I told him that if he was frustrated, maybe he could hit something else, like the couch. Three year old pipes up, through his tears, "Or the cat!" "No, no, not the cat." I say. He looks confused, "But can we yell at the cat? You yell at the cat when he scratches the door." I am under constant surveillance.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

a pretty boule

I've been trying my hand at baking bread using the sourdough starter that Carol gave me in September.  She told me that she got it from her neighbor who has had it passed down from an ancestor who crossed the plains with it in 1850!  I have been using rye flour and a slow rise method that is supposed to lower the glycemic index.

This was my best loaf yet -- isn't it pretty?  The recipe I use says to bake it covered in a dutch oven at very high heat for half the time and then lower the heat and remove the cover so that it will be crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside.  This bread is seriously so good!!!!  But I don't think it is helping my diet in any way, shape, or form.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Phineas' Rainbow

My little Phinney saw me making blankets for all of his older siblings and started asking me when I was going to make one for him.  I hadn't necessarily planned on starting another so soon after finishing Ibby's, but he was so earnest that how could I refuse?  He really likes rainbows, so I chose to do this one from The Purl Bee.  They sell a kit, but it was $1 million, or $780 to be exact.  Either way, prohibitive.  So I set out to find 42 colors of yarn -- not merino wool, not hand-dyed -- being different colors was pretty much my only requirement.  I soon found that this project was not achievable using only local sources so I carefully perused the colors available at the Wool Warehouse in the U.K. and hoped for the pixellated, internet funny colored, best.  I ordered everything on Dec. 23 and I can't remember exactly when the very large parcel arrived, but as soon as it did I got right down to business.  It is actually a bit embarrassing that I was able to finish the whole thing in about a month -- I truly did manage to make dinner most nights and keep up with laundry!  I just tried to have it on hand to work on some squares wherever I may be -- except church.  I still refuse to crochet there, even though I am just sitting there... hmmm.  Maybe someday.  I get so impatient when I'm working on things -- I just want to finish as quickly as possible!  I refuse to comment on the number of korean dramas consumed during this time.

::rainbow in embryo
 ::rainbow in stacks
 ::rainbow grid
::together at last
 
 ::happy boy with his rainbow!

*update I thought I should add which stylecraft colors I substituted for the ones offered at Purl Soho.  I also have a chart that I made if anyone is interested.

✽ candy floss ✽ fiesta ✽ bright pink ✽ fondant ✽ soft peach ✽ pomegranate ✽ raspberry ✽ shrimp ✽ lipstick ✽ matador ✽ claret ✽ gold ✽ spice ✽ copper ✽ camel ✽ saffron ✽ sunshine ✽ citron ✽ lemon ✽ bright green ✽ lime ✽ meadow ✽ petrol ✽ sherbet ✽ spring green ✽ aspen ✽ turquoise ✽ aster ✽ teal ✽ cloud blue ✽ royal ✽ denim ✽ silver ✽ grey ✽ graphite ✽ bluebell ✽ lavender ✽ wisteria ✽ violet ✽ plum ✽ magenta ✽ clematis 

The yellows and the greens were the most difficult to match, I thought.  And some of the ones I thought I would use with the pinks I ended up using with the purples.  

Monday, February 2, 2015

Magic 8

Happy Groundhog Day!  Did the groundhog see his shadow where you are?  It is very sunny here today with a balmy temperature of 7˚!!!  So we have six week left of winter.  Which is how it usually is.  It is 7 weeks until the Spring Equinox so that sounds about right. Often it is still chilly in April, and Matthew always always always complains, but it is like in the 40's and I patiently explain that that is Spring weather!  Silly man.  It snowed all Saturday night and all day yesterday so they declared a snow day from church and we enjoyed the beautiful falling snow.  It was also the superbowl, but we didn't watch it because we don't have t.v. AND we don't really care.  

This morning Phin found a magic 8 ball in Lucy's room so he came down to ask me how it worked.  I told him that you ask it a question, but he couldn't think of one so I suggested asking if it would snow tomorrow.  It answered with a simple yes.  Then he looked at it and asked, "Is Jesus real?"  That's the only question he could think of?  So I hoped for a good outcome as he shook, and then looked and it said, "It is certain."  So great!  I then explained that, of course, it is just a toy and that we shouldn't take it too seriously.

I've been studying Spanish every day with an app on my phone.  I guess I'm getting pretty good, because Lucy did a trivia challenge (another app) all in Spanish and I got all of the questions right and totally won!  Whoop!

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Sunday Speculation -- pain in the neck

My neck has been hurting since last Wednesday.  I twisted my body really strangely while I was cleaning the bathroom and spied a spider behind the toilet and suddenly my neck just started spazzing out!  The pain comes and goes and actually this morning is feeling much much better, but it made me realize all the amazing things our necks do so I wrote a poem:

Ode To My (aching) Neck

Bow to accept the warm embrace
Of tiny arms, so fair of face.
Bend for prayer and meditation,
Feeling deeply, and submission.

Turn to hear the cadence joyful
Of my life, the flowing cupful.
To catch a glimpse of fleeting beauty
And watch for danger, as my duty.

Arch to give laughter ample space
And welcome sunlight on my face.
To kiss my love so long and slow
And search for stars that blink and glow.

A conduit for response, command
From head to heart and heart to hand.
Nourishment swallowed, breath exhaled,
My voice intoned in whisper and wail.

A pillar bearing heavy weight
Of all my thoughts, both small and great.
The pedestal of my whole being,
The noble base of all my seeing.

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