WIP Friday

Well, if I can write my Intentional Thursday late, I should be able to write my WIP (work in progress) Friday a bit early...

It's pretty easy...I still need to finish the bean bags I made almost a month ago, and I have lots of little knitted puppets that need to have the finishing touches put on. I also have a stack of our entire CD collection sitting on the floor in my bedroom, awaiting stripping from their jewel cases and put into a binder, thereby saving space and making it easier to find our CD's. Not crafty or creative, but a work that is in progress, nonetheless.

I have quite a few major projects that I am working on for the school (one of which is the website overhaul). Not a single one of them is creative except in the problem-solving sense, but until they are completed, I really can't justify doing things that I love to do.

There it is!

A Thursday with Intentionality

There is something amiss when I come to my Intentional Thursday blog and it is almost Friday already. Oh well. We've had two weeks of Thursday holidays, but this week we are getting back on track.

This week I want to focus on intentional parenting... a big topic, to be sure. But I'll keep it fairly simple. This summer I have committed to working on my parenting - figuring out the why and how of caring for, disciplining and loving my three children. Now, this is no small task, nor is it something I think I can either accomplish this summer, or in any sense work though in this blog.

One aspect of this simply being aware. Paying attention to what I am doing, and taking a moment to ask myself why. What is my intention in what I say or do in relationship to my children? One thing I wrote in my journal while at family camp last week is this: "I want to take the space between disobedience and consequence to respond in love - think about why they need discipline, what the goal is, how best to achieve it..." It is so easy to REACT to my kids and to their behavior. To worry about how others are viewing their behavior and my response, instead of focusing on the GOAL - which in my mind is to develop children who are whole and healthy, both physically, mentally, and most definitely, spiritually.

Another aspect is to be reading some books and gleaning those few things that actually apply to my family. The first I'm almost embarrassed about, it is so "1990's" and not really my style - The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families. It's a book we picked up when we were actively selling books on Amazon, and instead of selling it we decided to keep it. Five years later, I picked it off the shelf to read it and throw it away. Now, I'm not finding anything earth-shattering in here, but it is an incredible reminder to take the time to be INTENTIONAL - to choose to be effective. To be proactive, to know where and why the family is going, etc. Even the process of just thinking about a family mission statement has really challenged me to actively CHOOSE what our family is about, and how to do it. It's really wonderful.

I'm also reading a book called The Mom Factor. It is meant to help one process through our hurt relationships with our own mothers. But it has been invaluable in slowly recognizing the things that I do as a mother that could produce hurt in my children... and because of that, I can slowly make some changes to actively mother my children in a healthy way.

Anyway, that is the short version of what I'm being intentional about this week and summer. If I were to unpack it, it would probably be a blog of its own, but this is good for now!

The Ultimate Holiday Week

We have discovered it. It is very nearly the perfect holiday for a family of five, all under age 5 (well, except the parents, and sometimes we act like it). This past week we were nurtured at a special Bowen Island/West Vancouver/Mount Vernon, WA weeklong camp at Barnabas Landing. This is a very special camp located on very nearby Keats Island. We had been there two years ago, literally one week after we had moved to Canada. Last year we had company from California with us during that week, so we missed it (and loved having our company!).

This year we decided that the location (simply gorgeous both at the camp itself and the views it looks out to), the number of activities designed for children, and the friends going made it the perfect option for this summer. Most families come and tent under the stars in the apple orchard, but I just couldn't see us stressing out through middle of the night feedings and early morning risings with our three, so we rented a room. There are two lovely buildings with bed and breakfast style rooms. The view from our window made it very difficult to convince Chris to close the blinds at night (it is dark until after 10 here, so even with the kids asleep, we can look out on Creation in all of its glory). The kids each built a nest in the corners of the room, and Sage slept in a pack and play in the closet, en route to the bathroom. She was an incredible trooper - she took great naps, slept well at night, and generally ignored the great amounts of noise that go on about her.


The week is loosely structured like this - breakfast as a family, followed by family huddle in the morning (singing songs, watching a Narnia inspired skit, getting ready for the day). Then the kids go off in age appropriate groups with incredibly loving counselors. While the kids are happily at "class" with their "teacher" (this is a tribute to how much my kids love school), the adults had time as a group for discussion and lecture. This year the topic was "Soul Food" - and our leaders were Rory Holland, Ron Reed, and Jordan Roberts. There is no official website for Jordan, and the two links I'm providing here can do NO justice to the really spectacular nature of this screenwriter/director. In addition to writing and directing his own film, Around the Bend, Jordan was brought in to write and direct the thoughtful narration to March of the Penguins. There is so much I could say about the individuals, but I want to respect their privacy and simply say that my soul was fed in getting to know them better and getting to know our group better. Families reunite for lunch and an afternoon together - on the waterfront, at crafts, hiking, sleeping, eating... something for everyone! After dinner, the entire group gathers for a fire-less campfire experience, and then the kids return to their counselors, who read them a bedtime story (at least if they are my kids age... I suspect the older kids get to play night games and go for swims and basically revel in the supervised opportunity to be about without their parents), and put them to bed, while the adults return to more time for soul food. A nearly perfect combination of time with and without the kids!

It is amazing to me how a group of 69 people, from ages 3 months to, well, much, much older (lets say 45 and make everyone feel good!), can come together for five days, and with the desire to be open with themselves and their families, become fast friends and a genuine community. Within a day, we are all sharing kids, passing babies, bouncing on the water trampoline, eating more tasty meals than could be believed, and having deep, life changing conversations at the same time.

There is also the great generosity of spirit that emerges from a group like this. Poetry was shared, kleenex passed, a night of great music (Bowen is so fortunate to be home to the likes of Shari Ulrich and David Graff), the give and take of helping each other handle the children... I felt so cared for in this environment. It is definitely in part to the people who come, but even more to the people who run Barnabas Landing. Everything they do is imbued with a sense of service to the Divine, and it overflows to the their staff and their guests. We all walk away refreshed and blessed.

Work Completed... almost

It is amazing how good it feels to actually finish a project! Well, come to think of it, I guess it isn't quite done yet. I was happy to spend my two weeks on holiday knitting the Soleil pattern from Knitty (I first mentioned it here). This past week we were treated like royalty at Barnabas Family Camp. While the kids were off playing, and the adults were sitting around and actually making and taking time to discuss adult topics, I drank deeply from both the sense of community and from the time. I knit in my free moments, and even took the time to refashion the pattern a bit. I loved the pattern that was designed, but, as I mentioned before, V necks do not flatter me. So I pulled up several other patterns which were a straight across design, and just threw caution to the wind and redesigned the top to fit my body shape. It's one of the things I love about knitting and crafting in general - that we can take a great idea and make it even greater for our personal taste and needs.
So, here it is, almost done. The lighting is terrible - I was in our bedroom while Sage slept and didn't want to mess around too much. I say it is almost completed because I didn't know how to crochet around the edges, though I suspect it will make it look much nicer. I hope to find a Bowen friend who can walk me through the process. But it is completed enough that I can (and did) wear it. What fun! I haven't done a project for me in I don't know how long. Hopefully, a completed photo in the near future!

Soleil Knitting - WIP

Finally a WIP that is making progress! I stained my favorite knitted tank top last week (ugh - but with a baby, should I be surprised?), so I decided to find one to knit. one of the first to come up was Knitty's Soleil. I like the detailing on the bottom - I've never done lace before, so it was a challenge. I really liked that there was a KAL, so I could access lots of advice right away.
Here's the first few rows. I had to adjust the pattern slightly, since I was using the needles I have (size 7 instead of 6) and cotton that I like from having knit Sage a sweater last month. So far so good - I'm actually through one skein so far, and honing in on the tricky neck/arm section. I'm not usually a v-neck kind of girl, so I'll see how it goes - I may try to adjust the pattern a bit, but don't know if I'm good enough to be that creative!

A Week Away

It is lovely to have grandparents who want to spend time with the whole family. This past week all of us have been visiting with Chris's mom and dad at a condo in Whistler. It was a wonderful chance to be able to be together in a place that has something for everyone:
Hiking and Berry Picking for us all (the wild blueberries were incredible)













Spending time laughing together (Sage is in love with her Poppy)

Biking in the dirt bike park (Sterling took his training wheels off and hasn't looked back! Here he is after only one day of practicing sans wheels, riding up and down the "jumps" at the Whistler BMX park)























Building Fairy Houses (Siena isn't a bike rider yet, but she had just as much fun building special fairy houses by the side of the bike path)


Nonna and Poppy enjoyed daily hikes, despite the rain. They took each of the kids out on a special date night - dinner alone with Nonna and Poppy, with dessert and a trip to the toy shop at the end. While the kids loved the treats, they each felt so grown up to spend time alone with their special grandparents. And for the parents - we loved having time "alone" (mostly - Sage is always with me!) with each of our kids as well. Two is so much easier than three!

What a wonderful week we've had! We are home now, ready for a night at home before packing up and heading off again tomorrow (this time to Barnabas Family Camp).

Three Months Old

The birthdays, the birthdays. The kids are tickled each week and month as we "celebrate" Sage's "birthdays." Well, the time is flying past and now she is three months old. And just a joy!

For the record, here is what we are doing at three months:
Taking great naps - she still naps three to four times a day
Eating well - Sage loves nursing, but thankfully only once at night!
Loving life - Sage coos, smiles, tries to laugh, and generally is beside herself with happiness when we are paying lots of attention to her - which we are happy to oblige!
Physically - trying to sit up a bit, loves to stand on our laps, rolls over from front to back and is arching her back to roll from back to front. She's got very strong neck muscles and a firm grip with her little hands.

We couldn't be happier with her - the kids love her, we love her, and she is beginning to show how much she loves us back!