Lack Of Snow

My daughter has been very disappointed in our unseasonably warm winter this year. She jumps out of bed in the morning and runs to the window to see if we have somehow had a miraculous blizzard in the night. She always looks so crestfallen at the sight of mud and rain.

I feel the same way. I've also been wishing for some cold. My husband tells me that I'm crazy to wish for bad weather, but I long for some snow and ice. I just don't feel normal without that change of the seasons.

So when Peanut called to me from across the house that she was having a snowball fight, my curiosity was piqued. I walked around the corner and there was one of the biggest messes she has made to date. Peanut had gotten into my sewing supplies and pulled out a huge bag of polyester fiberfill that I have on hand for stuffing soft toys and pillows. She had emptied the whole bag and spread it all over. The living room really did look as if it had seen a few inches of snow!

Peanut balled up a fistful of fluff and threw it at me. I didn't have the heart to scold her for the mess. We had a fluffball fight and made fluff angels on the rug and left the cleanup worries to later.

I guess the heart finds happiness where it can!

Of Cats and Kittens

My daughter has devised a new way of getting my attention.
One that makes me out of measure crazy!

When I was growing up, we had two cats. One was very playful and would curl up in your lap to purr and play anytime of the day. The other would not come near when you wanted him to, but let yourself get interested in a book or newspaper and he was there. In your face. Between the print and your eyes.

And now my daughter does this.

I am a stay at home mom. I am not an obsessive cleaner or cooker. I don't run around shopping or committee-ing all of the time. The lion's share of my effort and attention is invested in my daughter. Most of my days are spent in entertaining my very imaginative, very bossy, only child, princess. Whether it is directly, in the form of games, dress-up, or playing the paitent/king/shark/baby stand-in for her myriad of imaginings; or indirectly by choosing fun classes, playgroups, trips, or activities for us to do. I am there, being Mom, Sister, Brother, Cousin, and Friend all-in-one.

But I am also a grown-up person in my own right. I like to read. I like to knit. I like to occasionally browse my favorite internet sites. It is nice to think about something for more than three seconds.

Peanut doesn't think so.

The minute that I sit down with a book, or my knitting, or at the desk, she slithers up into my lap, between me and whatever it is that I am doing. It doesn't matter what she herself is doing or where in the house she may be. If she senses that my attention has wavered, she is there to break up the party. And it is starting to bother me.

I don't know why I find it so annoying. Most of the day I enjoy having her along, helping me cook or sweep, or empty the dryer. I try involve her in the workings of our household routine so she perceives all of us as a family and not "Peanut's Entourage". Still it seems she feels that she must be the center of MY attention.

When we are with groups of other children, she plays nicely and is part of the group. When my husband sits down to watch television, she sits quietly on his lap or at his feet and entertains herself. She is a pleasant, happy child who is a joy to have around. I think the problem lies with me.

The older I get, the more I tend to resent interruptions. Maybe it is because my thought processes seem to take so much longer than they once did. Maybe I am not quite the multi-tasker I once was. Maybe I'm just having a hard time getting through this phase of Peanut's development. I think it's a combination of everything.

Maybe we need to find more children to play with.

Maybe I need to take up drinking in the afternoon, lol!

A New Year

Here I am. 2007.

A new year full of possibilities.

I wonder what is in store for me and mine this year?

If my husband could choose, it would be a huge cash windfall, endless warm weather, and a wife who doesn't nag about all of his "Jeep time".

If my daughter could chose, it would be picnics every day, a large hole to dig in, and the human race suddenly developing the ability to do without sleep.

For me. I'm not sure what I would chose. There are so many good things about my life, that everyday I feel thankful just to be where I am. But, like everyone else, there are things that I wish would just disappear, never to bother my thoughts again. Sometimes the struggle seems as if it will overwhelm the "me" that resides inside this mother/wife, and I'll become a laundry washing, nose wiping, floor sweeping, food cooking, toy tidying automaton.

I also realize that the struggle is life. I wouldn't know I was alive if it weren't for the maddening ups and downs that make up my daily existence. I try to look at each of these crises as a whetstone that is honing my patience and kindness. Not that I am always successful at looking to the positive. I'm lucky if I manage a "glass half full" attitude even 30% of the time. But each new victory should be cause for celebration. In this instance the trying is just as beneficial as the achieving.

So what am I trying to say in this post that started out serious but has ended up sounding like an advert for some pharmicutical company? I guess it's that my new year's resolution this year is to continue to be human. No SuperMom or RoboWife. Just a woman who loves her family and friends, who is doing the best she can to leave this world a little better for her exsistence.

Christmas Gear Up

Well, the season of Joy is upon us. Our tree is up, much to my daughter's delight. The stockings are hung and the wreath is upon the door. I keep finding shepherds and kings scattered all over the house because Peanut is convinced that our Nativity scene is her own personal "Baby Jesus Action Figure Set" Baking is being planned, cards addressed, and soon wrapping will begin. And through it all I've been feeling like a fraud.

I care about my family and what impact we have on the world at large. I try to be caring and responsible. I feel the need to live life simply and happily. But often it seems that everything in my life is working against the ideals that I have set for myself. This becomes especially obvious at Christmas.

I go overboard when it comes to gifts, particularly when it comes to a certain little girl. I tell myself that we are not going to go all gift crazy this year, all the while, there are mounds of gifts waiting for one little three-year-old. A three-year-old who doesn't really want anything. A child who, when asked what she wants from Santa says, " Candy" or "Mail" or "Snow". She isn't old enough to have contracted the 'gimmies' yet. She wouldn't care if there was no more than a book or a doll under the tree. But, for some reason, her Momma does.

I find myself buying all sorts of nonsense that I will be tired of picking up off the floor before Twelfth Night. Piles of books, multiple Barbie dolls, Play-doh, Playmobile, Polly Pocket, as if trying to fill some void with toys that we don't need; and I'm not sure where it comes from.

Is it because I didn't have much as a kid? Am I trying to compensate for some area that I feel is lacking in my mothering? Am I just completely neurotic when it comes to Christmas?

I have these flashes of joy and peace sometimes, like tonight, sitting here with the lights off and the tree on, and it feels the way Christmas did when I was a kid. A kind of warm, glowing, happiness and anticipation. But the older I get, the fewer they are. It seems that all of the grown-up, commercial worries of the holiday tend to dominate my thoughts. As if the shinning, joyful, true meaning of Christmas gets covered up by all of this 'fake' stuff. Maybe that is why I buy so much. Maybe that is why I feel so fake.

I hope that I can get it together before the big day gets here.

Skirts! Skirts! Skirts!

I have found a new favorite in sewing books! "Sew What! Skirts" is absolutely wonderful for anyone who wants to sew, but hates following patterns.

I know that when I start out to make something, I'm very careful and precise, cutting out all of my pattern pieces and thoroughly marking them. But by the time I get around to the actual sewing part, I've either lost interest or have made so many changes that I might as well have not wasted my time with the pattern in the first place. I'm very much a "make it up as I go along" crafter. This book has 16 different skirts that anyone (and I mean even you out there who just took their sewing machine out of the box five minutes ago) can make, without a pattern. In fact, some of the easiest styles use a clever little dot-to-dot, follow the numbers method that I think is ingenious!

The best part of this kind of sewing is that you get to have all of the fun of mixing fabrics and embellishments without getting bogged down by the technical stuff that tends to put so many people off sewing. Plus, you get to make clothing in fabrics that you love and that are custom fit to your body. It's clothing sewing at it's best!

Go check it out!

Trick or Treat 2006

Peanut trying to see the end of her sucker.













Peanut, my sister, and my twin niece and nephew posing in the bright, bright, sun before taking a trip around the neighborhood.

Peanut's Pumpkin Party

Peanut hosted her very first party this October, and although it was nothing fancy and the guests spent most of their time jumping on the beds instead of decorating pumpkins, a good time was had by all. In fact, no one would stand still long enough to have their picture taken. So, as a result, I have more shots of the food and decorations, than I do of the actual party, lol.

   
Here they are painting and stickering away. Five minutes after this shot, everyone
dashed out the back door to run around in the mud and chase the Dads huddled around the "Dad's Fire" that my husband had built as an excuse for the guys to group together and feel "manly". lol

 












My "Sea Monster Sandwiches""Rrraaarrrwww! Anyone seen Nessie?"


  

Answers

First of all, thank you guys for the questions! Keep them coming! I always find it easier to write in response to someone. My ideas tend to be muddy and incoherent if they are made to develop all on their own, lol!

Because I had so many responses, I thought I would just run down the list.


Heather,

Our house hunting and selling are put on hold indefinitely. The house is still technically for sale, but we aren't trying. I don't know about everywhere else, but our little corner of the world is overrun with houses for sale. In fact, some people with higher priced homes in our area are adding time-share vacations and cars to the deals in order to make the sell. We've decided to stay put for awhile.

Yes I have done some canning this year, but not much. Two batches of apple butter and then a batch of hot pepper jelly in which none of the jars sealed, so I had to find homes for it quickly, but that wasn't a problem, lol. I put most of my vegetables up in the freezer, but last week, Peanut was playing around in there after I put my groceries away and she turned the deep-freeze off. We didn't find out until two days later when my husband opened the door and about a gallon of water splashed out on his feet. We lost everything, lol.

My socks are now to the ribbing on the legs. My mother has convinced me to enter them in the fair next year, so now I'm paranoid about every stitch, where before I was just looking at them as a learning experience. My husband gave me this slick set of interchangeable needles for my 30th on Sunday and I have been itching for some new projects. Today I cast on for a soft grey scarf for him as a thank you present. I did knit the sundress and panties for Mina, my daughter's 'Knitted Babe', but Peanut is just getting to that "changing clothes" doll phase so I hadn't bothered to do anything else. I'm sure in the doldrums of January, I'll pull it out and look for a quickie project. I'll post some pictures of Mina in a few days, if I can get my dying camera to co-operate. I'd say go right ahead and make a 'Babe' they are easy and fun! And don't forget to post some pictures so that we can see!

thicket dweller,

I'm afraid I don't have any good recipes for red beans and rice. In fact, I must come clean and admit that I don't like rice, save risotto. It started with the nasty concoctions my Mom used to make when I was a kid. Since then, I have tried rice every once in awhile, but I have found that I still can't stomach much white rice. I do like some long grain wild rices, and we eat brown rice and raisin salad here for dessert on occasion, but most rice dishes I abhor. I embarrass my husband to no end when we eat Chinese and I sit at the table and pick every grain off of my food. Maybe someday I'll grow up, lol!

Anonymous,

You are probably going to hate me, but I'm already mostly done for Christmas. I embroidered dresser scarves for most of the ladies on my list, and I'm just finishing up my last one. My shopping is all finished except for my husband, who always tells me he doesn't know what he wants, so I'm usually stumped for awhile. A few years ago, I started the habit of trying to be done shopping and crafting by the end of October, and I have found that it has made things so much less stressful. I also tend to spend less and miss the money less by spreading it out over the year, as long as I keep a running list of what I have already bought in my purse at all times. Woe is me if I don't keep track, because I always end up buying too much. I'm wracking my brain and digging through old 'Family Fun' magazines to find a craft that Peanut can make for the Grandparents, but now that most of my list is out of the way, I don't feel the pressure so badly, lol.

Happy Housewife,

It's true that I do love to sing, but my voice is only fit for babies and my own car, lol! I used to sing in school and church choir (like all good little Baptist girls, lol) until I was married, but I never sing in public if I can help it anymore. I love to sing and I belt out everything from hymns to showtunes, but only for mine and Peanut's pleasure. Although, she usually says "Mama, don't sing. I sing". She already loves the spotlight. As far as uploading something that I have sang, don't hold your breath, lol! I'm not cruel enough to inflict that on the general public!

Stumped

I am at a brick wall with my blogging.

Everything I start to write sounds boring and over done. I just haven't felt any inspiration lately.

What would you readers like to hear about?

Any questions that you would like to ask? Any recipes that you are looking for? Any subject that you wouldn't mind me blathering on and on about?

Let me know. I'm drowning here!

County Fair Treats

 
There is nothing like our local-dairy-made ice cream on a warm autumn day at the fair! 

WIP Friday

Here is my submission for WIP Friday; my "Two at a Time, Toe Up" socks. The yarn and the pattern both come from KnitPicks, although this particular color of self-striping sock yarn is no more.When I started these, it was a little like wrestling an octopus, because you have two balls of yarn and two circular needles to keep straight, but like most projects, one you get a little more yarn on the needles, it's not so bad. I chose a two at a time version, so that I will hopefully side-step my procrastinating ways and actually have a complete pair when I'm finished. I know that if I were to try my first pair of socks one-at-a-time, I'd never have more than one, lol.

This yarn is a dream to work with and I love the stripes. I have a few other colorways of this yarn put away and I'm thinking that one of them might make great mittens. Maybe that will be next?