A lovely evening...

Tonight, after dinner, the children were wanting me to read so they could work on handicrafts. Noah was whittling, and the girls wanted to do embroidery. Micah was milling around and decided he wanted to embroider too. Typically I shy away from giving sharp implements to 3yo boys, but he found a plastic needle and was insistent. I kept putting him off while I got the girls set up with patterns and embroidery hoops. Part of me hoped he would forget... but he didn't.

Noah kept whittling away. I actually tried to fob Micah off onto Noah for a whittling lesson, thinking that would be more interesting to him. (Yes, I asked a 3yo to go play with a knife... I obviously wasn't thinking clearly...) But Micah wouldn't budge, he wanted to use thread and a needle and he wanted to "make something".

Don't ask me why, but there were some paper plates on my living room floor, the kind I keep around for crafts (but not usually in the middle of the floor). I remembered that I had a small awl and decided to punch holes into one of the paper plates and make him a simple picture. I remembered that earlier this week he was interested in the story of Noah and the Ark, so I punched him a little boat.

I kind of forgot about his project in the flurry of requests for threading, knotting, untangling, etc., from the girls. Noah even came and shoved his whittling project in my face for inspection from time to time (he is making a letter opener from a twig from our Christmas tree this year). Micah was happily sewing on his little plate, and I didn't stop to inspect because he seemed thrilled with his productivity.

When the dust settled and everyone was done with their handicrafting... we had settled for listening to Adventures in Odyssey in place of my reading aloud since I was so busy with assisting all the projects... Micah showed me what he had done, completely unassisted... all I could do was smile...

I love these kids...

I don't think I was very well prepared for mothering...
Some days are idyllic...
Other days seem to disappear right before my eyes...
Many days I fear that I am screwing them all up...
God has used my children, more than any thing else, to sanctify me and conform me to His image...
The process has been filled will joys and sorrows, cheers and tears...
But I can't imagine my life without these blessings...
I put this picture as the background on my laptop and I can't stop smiling when I see it...

When it is time to settle...

That may seem like a funny title, considering we have lived in the same town for 9 years and the same house for nearly 7 of those years. But, when you take into consideration that in the last twelve months we have had our house on the market to sell, hoping to buy a small ranchette... and then took it off the market because that fell through... and then we started making plans to build on an acre lot we have in New Braunfels... but then we decided to join a church plant on the far NW side of San Antonio and called off the home building... so then we began looking for homes closer to the church plant only to decide to stay where we are due to health and other issues with parents... it feels like we are just settling back in.

This past year has been an emotional roller coaster. I am not a mover by nature, I stayed in the same house nearly all growing up, and in college only moved once. My husband loves moving, but he will admit, he doesn't do any of the prep work, so it is just fun for him, like getting a new techie toy. I get totally stressed out by the process, it takes me forever to figure out where things are going to go, not to mention the management of kids and still needing to cook three meals and a handful of snacks each day, schooling them and keeping up with laundry fit in somewhere too. When we lived "show ready" last March, we really didn't get much else done. And even after we decided to rent the house, and do any needed work after we moved, there was still the mental energy and time spent on looking at houses and figuring out price ranges and best parts of town.

I have also been rearranging and putting up new stuff on the walls... like this wall layout for the dining room/classroom... I want to put some words above the maps and cork board, but I am not sure of what just yet...

And then, there was the red chair in my living room. It is tucked away into a corner and doesn't get as much attention from the children as the couches with removable cushions. Elliott calls it "my office" as I keep myself surrounded by books and keep my laptop close by. Lately, I haven't been able to go into "my office" because the piles around it were too high and precariously balanced that I was afraid to leap over for fear of an avalanche. I actually needed to get some work done on the computer tonight, so I couldn't ignore the mess any longer... here was my mid-point... chair and laptop freed from the bottom so I could blog this post.

And now, back to work...

Keeping busy...

Not much blogging these days... they have been full from wake-up to way too late bedtime... I have like five posts in draft, struggling through yawns to get all my thoughts together. Good busy, but busy none-the-less. I am looking forward to sitting down to an evening without a huge to-do list so I can just blog. Until then...

Handicrafts class...

Every week I have a few families over for either art or handicrafts. This week was handicrafts, and for months and months we have been working on hand sewing. The boys have been content to work alongside the girls but I have really wanted to be able to start the girls on their project and split the boys off to do something more manly.

During the Fall we did a different activity every time we met, honing skills but having short projects that the kids could use and keep so they would be enthusiastic about class. However, this Spring I have shifted gears and we are working on a longer project that we will give away. The girls will be working on hand sewing a quilt which we will then turn into a baby blanket to give away to a baby in the NICU (helps to have a dad of some of the students who is a Neonatologist). I read a book about a quiltmaker, The Quiltmaker's Gift, and the girls started working.

The boys were taken to the dining room and we started the first ever manly craft - Paracord Survival Keychains. I had all the boys' attention as I showed them how to measure, cut and burn the ends to prevent unraveling. What boy doesn't love seeing things burn?!?! (Of course, we discussed that children should never play with fire... without a parent close by anyway.) Once each boy had chosen their color, the knotting began. And here was the result...

The girls are begging me to teach them. I told them no. I have really struggled to find handicrafts for the boys. The girls have knitting, crocheting, embroidery, hand sewing, machine sewing, beading, etc. The boys have whittling and now this. I told one near-teary girl that I would show her how to make something like this with hemp and beads, but I am saving the paracord for the boys. I said I would buy pink and purple and let their brothers make them gifts. :)

Each of these can be unraveled and the cord is rated to hold 550lbs of pressure. One of the boys said they were going to ask their dad to fall into a ditch so they could rescue him. Of course, one of my boys wanted to use it for a whip. I vetoed that idea. I was excited that they seemed to enjoy themselves so much. Next time we meet (if I can find the clips) we will be making two-color survival bracelets.

A little project...

When our kids play, they play hard. It is a joy to watch them live life to the full. So full, they usually end up wearing holes in the knees of their pants from seam to seam. Usually I groan at the thought that new jeans will have to be purchased. If it is summer we might cut them off at the hole and let them have some shorts for the warmer weather. But holes in winter aren't conducive for staying warm.

So, one week as I was folding laundry after bedtime, I decided to pull out the worn out pants. I got this idea to deconstruct the jeans, keeping the intact portions to use for a quilting project. Now, don't be impressed, I don't actually know how to quilt, but I thought it might make a fun, sturdy, family picnic blanket and it would preserve a little bit of our kids' childhood... Or at least some of their clothes.

The last few nights I have been taking jeans apart, cutting them along the seams. As soon as I am done with my little stack, I will tackle the next part... Learning how to quilt. This should be fun...

It all began with chalkboards...

Years and years and years ago, my friend's husband and his little sister had come up with this really cool project to help raise money for the youngest sibling's college fund. Somewhere a large pile of old cabinet fronts was found, then a big can of chalkboard paint was purchased, and a small, family-run enterprise was born. Ok, not really, but they made a ton of chalkboards and did sell some. I had always wanted to buy one but could figure out where I would put it, or what size I would need, or if I would actually ever use it because of all the chalk dust... so, I never did anything about it.

Years have passed, enough for my friend's youngest sister-in-law to complete college and be out in "the real world" for a couple more too. And I am still thinking about those chalkboards... yes, really, still. So, I sheepishly ask if she has any. I probably would have never asked, but she posted a picture of her shed on her blog with comments about clearing stuff out. And she had some. And she wanted to get rid of them. I was giddy! So we picked a day for the pick-up.

Between us, we have 9 children. So, the inevitable happened and our scheduled pick-up date was rescheduled due to the busyness of life, and childhood communicable diseases. In fact, I think we had exchanged a number of texts about it, coming to no real arrangement. Then, last week as I was driving to the hospital to hang out with my new-baby-having-friend, I realized I would be driving right past my chalkboard-friend's house on my way back home later and asked if I could stop in.

Me: Just curious... are you going to be home this afternoon?
Friend: Yes. Do you want to peek at the chalkboards? FYI - pink eye is moving through the kids
Me: (long pause and deep breaths, reminding myself of God's Sovereignty over bacteria) Chalkboards - yes! And since I am kid-free the pink eye doesn't scare me as badly. :)

When I left the hospital, I sent a note that I was on my way. I expected a short stop, so I let the kids (and my mother-in-law) know I was headed home. Imagine my surprise when I knocked on the door and was greeted by friends who are missionaries in Mexico City (they are related to my chalkboard-friend)! My friend is saying, "I just love surprises!" while I reeled in shock and tried to catch up on two years in under 10 minutes. They had made an impromptu trip to town for some legal paperwork and from landing to leaving were here for a total of like 36 hours.  Upon hearing this, I began thanking the Lord for keeping me from overreacting about the pink eye and missing such a sweet time!

You see, both these friends inspire me to live for Jesus right where I am... their photography inspires me to not forget to capture the moments and not just the portraits... I love listening to them as they transparently shares joys and struggles... these are friends who can make you feel like you are the only person in the room...

So, after a whirlwind catch-up, I get back down to business about gathering the chalkboards. As we traverse through the shed, we soon come to realize that most of the chalkboards that are left were used when one of the sisters in this awesome family got married a couple of years ago. I was suddenly inspired to make my missionary friends pose with their sign before I got it home and erased a small piece of their family history.

A little more fellowship, a coffee made to go, and I was on my way. The whole time we were visiting my missionary friend was snapping photos of life as it happened all around. I tend to avoid being captured on film, but made an impulsive decision to not let this little moment slip away undocumented just because I have never lost that 40lbs. So, a few quick shots just to remember the day and goodbyes...

  

So, starting my drive home after my surprise delay, I get a call from my husband who is almost home. Apparently, everyone at home was growing concerned that I had not yet reached home. I looked at the clock and couldn't believe all that had passed in only 30 minutes. I apologized for not letting them know of the delay and promised they would be happy with the reason. And they were as they passed around my phone to see the photos. :)

For a week the chalkboards sat...

Until today. Now all I need is chalk...