Intentional Thursday

A week has passed already, and summer is in full swing. So this week, I have intentional doing two things - finishing what I start, and using things up. Practically speaking, this means trying not to start using things up until the I've finished the projects (or work, or whatever) that is in progress. It's amazing how easily I can be distracted from finishing cleaning the house, or writing difficult letters for work, or... you know how it is.

But once I've finished whatever it is I've scheduled for that day, the fun can begin! I have been going through my craft boxes - two or three boxes of fabric, two of yarn, and coming up with projects that will use them up without making me buy anything new. This week it is using up scraps of upholstery fabric. But that would be a work in progress, so it'll wait until tomorrow. Besides, that was what I started yesterday as a prize for finishing some work that I was putting off. Today I need work on some school related things, and then, as a prize, I get to FINISH the fabric squares. It's silly, but it is good motivation for me. And it feels intentional, which is the point.

The Ultimate Work in Progress

11 Weeks Old tomorrow...

Work in Progress

I actually have something of a Work In Progress this week. Of course, I don't even know what day it is supposed to go up - I think it is Friday. Well, at least this is something!

I'm working on altering a Waldorf design (boy with hands in his pocket - I can't find a link for it) to make it a little princess doll for girls. It is meant to be a first doll - no parts at all, just one piece. I'm knitting it in the round to try to eliminate some sewing work. As you can see - the doll on the left, done per the instructions, came out pretty cute. The doll on the left I made without the pattern in hand, changed to cotton yarn and needles which I now see are just too big. She is stuffed with batting and a bell for ringing. I have hopes of learning how to knit on a decorative edging at the top to look like a crown. She needs a LOT of work. The doll in the middle - knit in just under an hour - needs to be sewn up and finished, but looks pretty good. I'm going to try making the girl doll, still in cotton but with much smaller needles, and wihtout a skirt, to see if she can be improved. I've got lots of girl babies around here!

PS - my kids have lots of works in progress too - check out my other blog (about my family) to see some great claywork!

Intentional Living

So what to do with all this summer time? I know there will be tons of playdates, and lots of sand and water time. I'm hoping to work on my garden up at L'Abri, where they have generously given me a small plot amidst their large one. I'm a terrible gardener - no green in my thumb at all, but I so appreciate fresh produce, and the lessons it can teach both me and the kids. My work at the school should slow down (I hope and pray), so that I can begin to focus once again on the things that are important to me.

The blog from SouleMama a few days ago really struck a chord (I wrote about it here). A friend and I have started discussing ways to turn this into an intentional summer - and hopefully rest of our lives too. It is so easy to get caught up in life - in responding to what goes on around us, in rushing to and fro to keep everyone (in and out of our family) happy, in seeing great ideas on the blog of someone we admire, and thinking we need to start doing that ourselves.

And it takes time to figure out what we DO want to be intentional about, which is the biggest reason I think I don't live that way. I would have to call a screeching halt to life as I know it to really make a life change. But with the help of a friend to keep me accountable, I think I can work on making small changes. Baby steps, as Bob would put it, baby steps to living the kind of life I want to live, the kind of life I want my family to enjoy.

My first step this week was to spend a few minutes actually thinking about it. We went away last weekend and talked at length about how where we spend our money speaks more to what we value than what we just think we value. It was informative, but thinking about how I spend my time even more so. I've begun a journal just for thinking through these things - what we value and why, how to live by those values.

Baby Step - I love bringing cheer to a friend. I used to write notes and send little positive thoughts out all the time. Since having kids, almost never. So yesterday, after a lovely afternoon of tea and Mary Kay shopping, I wrote my friend a note. Nothing huge, just a few lines about how much I value her in my life. It felt really good.

Keep posted - maybe I will come up with an "Intentional Thursday" blog of my baby steps. And if you've got any ideas... I love those.

Summer has started

It's official. School is now over for us, and summer has begun. We've been to a friend's pool and the beach already, and it's only been 48 hours. It's a challenge with a 2 month old - especially because I still wear her in the front pack most of the time. But the kids are good sports about me being in the shade, and them needing to wear life jackets all the time (good motivator to learn to swim, don't you think?).
Today we had our first playdate (of the summer), and for lunch I made funny shapes on their plate with cheese. There are so many flickr groups out there in blog-land --Work In Progress Friday, Color Week, Corners of my Home... I would love to see a week of Fun for Kids Lunches - because I know there are mom's out there with great ideas, and the motivation of coming up with five unique lunches is a great challenge. Don't know how to start such a thing - it won't be very good if it is only me (good on the motivation, bad on the variety). So, something else to figure out this month!

"A Yarn about Wool"

Siena picked out a book from the library last week, very randomly. We ended up loving it - Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep I really enjoy stories like this - funny and interesting, while at the same time teaching the kids about what happens to make something they take for granted - in this case, sheeps wool to yarn to a sweater! Another one like this is Pancakes, Pancakes. This one shows how it takes growing wheat, grinding grain, milking a cow, etc. to make a simple pancake. There must be many books like this out there - but these are the two that I know about. Now my mission is to find more!

Weekend Away - Craft Room Heaven!

Whew. We made it. Our first weekend/travel trip with three kids. This weekend we drove six hours to the Okanagan Valley to attend a conference at the Naramata Centre. The kids did great, and so did the adults.

The highlight of the weekend was that we survived - newborn and all. Sage slept great throughout, both in the little cottage we stayed in as well as during her MANY hours in the front pack. And there was only minimal crying in the long hours of car riding.

But nearly equal in highlight power - the Naramata Centre craftroom! The wonderfully generous staff there opened up not only the "craft room" but also the "paper room" for the kids and I to use (there was also a fabric room, which I drooled in and then left, there was only so much time!). Imagine - a full PAPER room - literally full of paper, all organized and ready to use. I was in heaven! Here's a few photos - the first two of craft room shelves, the last of one wall of the paper room (one of three!).


It's all made me drool over what they have accomplished, and to give myself some credit for the small, tiny version of it that I have tried to cultivate. But I lack the abundance of what they have - the sense that you could craft and play and make tons of projects (kid style, of course) without worrying about running out of materials. I have come home with many new thoughts on how to organize our crafts and paper and fabric. What I need now is some ideas for how to use up all the fabric I've got!

How do they do it?

I was so thankful to read a recent blog from SouleMama, in which she dispells the myth that she can and does do it all. I read a few blogs every day (SouleMama, While She Naps, Jumilla Bugs and MommyCoddle are my favorite), but rarely have the time or content to post every week much less every day. They inspire me. With three kids (5, 3 years and 2 months), running a local Montessori school, and supporting my husbands work, I think it is usually something akin to a miracle when I can start and finish a craft. These ladies have really inspired me to stretch a bit, but more importantly, to enjoy their lives and to live my to the fullest, even if that means that there are fewer blogs than I'd like, fewer crafts completed than I'd like, and more just moments being Mom. Those are, after all, what it's all about, right?!

Last Day of School

Today is the last day of school. My kids attend a local Montessori Preschool, so today will be a rite of passage for them - celebrating their year together here, and formally passing into the next year. Of course, because it is Montessori, they will both be in the same classroom next year as well - the three year cycle is one of my favorite things about Montessori. Again they will be in a class together, with teachers who support them as individuals, so they don't feel like big brother (or little sister) is watching.

Every family is bringing something good to eat as part of the celebration. Siena and I are making cheese scones, a version of the basic scones that we have made for most of our snack days. With raisins they are a "treat," with chocolate chips they are a "huge treat" and with cheese they are part of our meal (which they still, thankfully, see as a treat). they are a big hit because we can use cookie cutters with them - since we don't do very much sugar, we don't make cookies often, so our cookie cutters are really scone cutters.

They are a hit with the kids, even when I make them with whole wheat flour, so I consider this recipe a keeper.

BASIC SCONES:
2 cups flour (I usually do at least half whole wheat)
1/4 cup sugar (less if cheese scones)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 TB cold butter, cut up (a bit more if you like a flakier scone)
3/4 cup milk (I just pour a bit at a time until it comes together)
1 egg
Filling (about 1/2 cup fruit or chips, or grated cheese)

Stir dry together, add butter and cut in. Add filling and stir around. Stir in egg and milk, a bit at a time, until the dough just comes together. Gently knead into a ball, roll out to approx. 3/4 inch thick, and cut into shapes. Bake at 350 for 12-18 minutes, depending on thickness and size of scone.

Baptism

Today was a grand Sunday indeed. Chris and I were blessed to have all three of our children baptized this evening in a special service at our church. A dear friend, who is a Pastor (although not at our church) officiated, for the baptism of Sterling, Siena, Sage, and two other wee ones. The babies were perfect - not a peep out of them (Sage slept through the entire service). Sterling and Siena also did well. It was the second church of the day for them, and sitting still in the front row, and then being "on display" AND getting "wet" was quite a bit to handle. Pastor Mark is a friend of theirs as well, and his gentleness did much to help them through their nerves (as did being held by mommy and daddy).

It was a moving service for me. At the beginning, the congregation sang, "Great is Thy Faithfulness" - and there I was, sitting with Sage sleeping peacefully in my arms, Sterling and Siena Cate on either side of me, Chris next to them. Thinking back to more than five years ago when we wondered if we would ever have children, to sleepless nights when we've wondered why we have children, to the surprise of becoming pregnant with Sage, and now actually being a parent to three incredible children... well, Great is His Faithfulness, indeed.