Family Home Evening was postponed last night because I needed to go work with a student. We held it this (Tuesday) evening. That's all I'm really going to say about it. Bill has a much better perspective so harass him about it. Let's just say that my final retort went something like,
"Well ya, that's a great idea...let's have an opening prayer followed immediately by a closing prayer and if that goes well we'll call it a great night. We can do the lesson before we open and have the treat after we pray. It won't matter if things are crazy because the official FHE was only during the prayer times!"
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Handwork is my Thing
I joined the parent's handwork group at Kyra's new school. I had no idea what to expect, no idea what our projects would be, or what crazy Waldorfy parents would be there to socialize with. I was pleasantly surprised on all counts.
A few days before the first meeting April and I were chatting. She mentioned that she wanted to go to handworks but wasn't sure if she could make it all the time. Now I knew one person, yay me! After I got there and we started our project another parent came up to me. She was a friend of a friend that I hadn't seen for probably 5 or more years. When Kyra was 3 or 4 we used to hang out at Peter Piper Pizza with several other moms while our kids ran around pretending to play the games. (they were all young and we were too cheap to give them money) Two friends now, double yay.
Then there was the project. Sewing small pieces of felt together to create a dragon. I kept calling it a dinosaur (what do I know, I have girls!), but it was the simple act of hand stitching that was so delightful. It brought back memories of junior high when I used to make little bears and create silly clothes for them. I even made a wedding dress and tux for a pair of bears to sit on my mom's wedding cake. I know, I know, BIG NERD!
The final project, a dragon family to be donated to the school store
A close up of the first 2 dragons. Oooh, aah.
Super soft crochet blankets for my nephew's baby girl. The one on the left was the number of stitches it was supposed to take (apparently I'm a little uptight, it was about 1/3 the size it was supposed to be), the one on the right is the final project, folded in quarters. Thanks to Bridget for the super easy pattern and the inspiration for these babies!
Dragon inspired baby toys that I gave at another baby shower. The Waldorf parents gasped at the idea of using bright red, white and black colors for these toys. (muted pastels made from vegetable dyed wool felt are the Waldorf way) Oh well, they were stinking fun to make!
A few days before the first meeting April and I were chatting. She mentioned that she wanted to go to handworks but wasn't sure if she could make it all the time. Now I knew one person, yay me! After I got there and we started our project another parent came up to me. She was a friend of a friend that I hadn't seen for probably 5 or more years. When Kyra was 3 or 4 we used to hang out at Peter Piper Pizza with several other moms while our kids ran around pretending to play the games. (they were all young and we were too cheap to give them money) Two friends now, double yay.
Then there was the project. Sewing small pieces of felt together to create a dragon. I kept calling it a dinosaur (what do I know, I have girls!), but it was the simple act of hand stitching that was so delightful. It brought back memories of junior high when I used to make little bears and create silly clothes for them. I even made a wedding dress and tux for a pair of bears to sit on my mom's wedding cake. I know, I know, BIG NERD!
The final project, a dragon family to be donated to the school store
A close up of the first 2 dragons. Oooh, aah.
Super soft crochet blankets for my nephew's baby girl. The one on the left was the number of stitches it was supposed to take (apparently I'm a little uptight, it was about 1/3 the size it was supposed to be), the one on the right is the final project, folded in quarters. Thanks to Bridget for the super easy pattern and the inspiration for these babies!
Dragon inspired baby toys that I gave at another baby shower. The Waldorf parents gasped at the idea of using bright red, white and black colors for these toys. (muted pastels made from vegetable dyed wool felt are the Waldorf way) Oh well, they were stinking fun to make!So, for my husband who thinks I sit around all morning eating bon-bons and watching soap operas, here are the fruits of my labors. I am also almost finished with another table runner for my mom, did some more stitching on a friends quilt, and am waiting further instruction on how to finish an oversized washcloth (apparently I'm not an uptight knitter). Maybe I should fix that hole in Bill's pants.
April once told her sister that she liked "homemaking Helena". The part of me that stays home and bakes bread and can hang out and chat. She's OK I think, but I like "handwork Helena" a little bit better. She can sit and chat while she does her handwork. Invite her over sometime.
I need some Brandon time
Tasha is obsessed with babies. She loves to hold them, play with them, talk to them, and did I say hold them?! The poor kid doesn't get to touch the ground. She also loves to carry him around which is completely nerve racking. I don't even think Tasha weighs twice as much as Brandon, but she will try to haul him around, hoist him up, and carry him to his mom. She is very wobbly when she does this. In this particular picture Tasha is helping Brandon suck on his toe.
The problem with this little obsession of Tasha's is that I don't get any time to see this little man. Tasha is always in my face and asking, "can I hold him?" Argh, back off kid! Last night Tasha was distracted for a few moments by another friend so I got to chat with Brandon for a while all by myself. I'm not sure, but when I took him from Crystal and I smiled at him he smiled back. I gave him a little kiss on the cheek with a little "hi Brandon" and I got the cheese-faced-wonder of a baby smile. It was the one that said, "hey, I know you...and you're OK." He melted my heart and hung out with me for several snuggly-baby-drooly minutes of glee.
Now my problem is that I miss that little guy. All day I was thinking, "I need a little Brandon time."
Feng Shui THIS baby!
This is the end table right next to my "reading chair".
Hmm, what am I reading?!
(man, that's embarassing...did I really take a picture?!)
If in the Feng Shui world this chaos represents some part of my life, what part is it and therefore, what part of my is this chaotic? The biggest problem is that this particular room has 3 entryways so the table is actually in 3 different Feng Shui locations. In order of most used doorways to least here is where the chaos is:1. front right corner
2. back right corner
3. back left corner
So, would some Feng Shui expert let me know which aspect of my life USED to be messed up so I can watch for the fabulous changes. I cleaned it up last Friday. It's still got a lot of literature, but it's dusted, stacked, neat, and organized.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
These are a few of her Favorite Things...
To April, on her birthday...
I love ya girl!!!
Raindrops on roses and vines of sunflowers
Nursing her children through all daylight hours
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of her favorite things...
"Fookies" and "fuffins" and gluten-free streudels
"Fookies" and "fuffins" and gluten-free streudels
Chicken soup made with her fresh homemade noodles
Waldorf inspired to fly high with her wings
These are a few of her favorite things...
Compost to save the earth turning to ashes
Hair to the birds and also her eyelashes
Movie quotes, Potter fan, therapist phone rings
These are a few of her favorite things...
When the babe cries
When the bee stings
When she's feeling sad
She simply remembers her favorite things
And then she don't feel so bad
Roses...hmmm flowers...
Nursing...all hours
La dee da, la dee da,
La dee da da
These are a few of her favorite things...
When the babe cries
When the bee stings
When she's feeling sad
She simply remembers her favorite things...
And then she don't feel so bad...
Monday, September 22, 2008
Happy First Day of Fall!
Where exactly do we find leaves like this?Oh wait, a friend made me some sugar cookies this weekend (that were delish!) and they looked like that. It must be a cookie thing.
Why would google put cookies on their image to talk about fall?
Anyone catching the sarcasm here? We don't have fall! We suddenly have "not so hot anymore" and then it's Thanksgiving and Christmas. While other parents are putting leggings on their little ballerinas at Halloween to make sure they don't get cold, we have to give our Power Ranger short sleeves so he doesn't die from heat stroke. (true story)
Seriously though, I went to see Fall once. Bill and I were in a wedding (that we spent more on in clothing, airfare, hotels, ect. than we did on our own wedding) in Vermont many years ago. The leaves had barely begun to turn colors and some were falling to the ground. I was giddy with delight as I gathered as many as I thought I could haul back to Arizona. (Yes, the Vermont-ites thought I was nuts. What do you can someone from Vermont?) Anyway, I brought the leaves home, dried them and then laminated them so I could post them on my Kindergarten bulletin board instead of die-cut construction paper red, orange and yellow leaves. Oooh. Aaah.
Ha. Ha. "I went to see Fall once." I made a funny.
FHE: 6 down, 48 to go
Well, I have to say that I might not have been dedicated enough to make this FHE thing happen tonight if it were not for this blog, 5 weeks down, and children that ask, "is it Family Home Evening night?" every night. (OK, that's just Tasha asking , but Kyra always smiles when she says it) I really need to be more positive. I know the disappointing times are because of me and my attitude, frustrations, and annoyances.
This morning over breakfast (cold cereal and milk) I asked Tasha what she wanted to teach for FHE since it was her turn to give the lesson. She asked what Dad taught last week because she wanted to be different. Then she said, "how about being good." Hmm I thought to myself. "What do you want to say about being good?" Then she gets that little sly head tilt and weird smile and says in a much too sweet voice for anyone to believe, "be nice...help...be good." Where is she getting this stuff from? The bus came and off she went to preschool.
In between trying to schedule a student, phone calls and visits to the hospital, and making dinner to take to a family, I managed to visit LDS.org and find the closest thing to being good I could find. It was perfect because it was a game and it was all about the good things you could do at home to help be a happy family. Tasha colored it in. We played it. She put the pieces away when we were done (while I waited quite impatiently because we still needed to say the closing prayer and have the treats dad made us and it was 7:20 and the kids are usually in bed and I'm reading to them by now...) and I had her close with her testimony. Well, it was something to the effect of "I know we can be good and make our family happy. I say these things..." (and she picked up on how she should close right away.) She was quite proud. I was quite stubborn. What a rotten mom. Hmm, maybe someone else should lead this family in FHE.
Anyway, the day is almost over now. My mom is back home and on some happy drugs to make the pain go away until she passes a 4mm kidney stone. She's sipping on Pepsi even though I bought her lemons, juiced them and made her a fine lemon water drink that is supposed to help with the pain. I'll forgive her though since she puked up the lemon water and the Pepsi stays down. Now I wonder if I should even bother juicing the apples. I've got a load of laundry in the washing machine because the puppy decided to pee on Tasha's bed this morning for no apparent reason. Tasha's asleep on our bed. Kyra is hopefully asleep on her bed. I've taken a shower and feel a little bit more human.
But, la la. Tuesday is Temple day...
This morning over breakfast (cold cereal and milk) I asked Tasha what she wanted to teach for FHE since it was her turn to give the lesson. She asked what Dad taught last week because she wanted to be different. Then she said, "how about being good." Hmm I thought to myself. "What do you want to say about being good?" Then she gets that little sly head tilt and weird smile and says in a much too sweet voice for anyone to believe, "be nice...help...be good." Where is she getting this stuff from? The bus came and off she went to preschool.
In between trying to schedule a student, phone calls and visits to the hospital, and making dinner to take to a family, I managed to visit LDS.org and find the closest thing to being good I could find. It was perfect because it was a game and it was all about the good things you could do at home to help be a happy family. Tasha colored it in. We played it. She put the pieces away when we were done (while I waited quite impatiently because we still needed to say the closing prayer and have the treats dad made us and it was 7:20 and the kids are usually in bed and I'm reading to them by now...) and I had her close with her testimony. Well, it was something to the effect of "I know we can be good and make our family happy. I say these things..." (and she picked up on how she should close right away.) She was quite proud. I was quite stubborn. What a rotten mom. Hmm, maybe someone else should lead this family in FHE.
Anyway, the day is almost over now. My mom is back home and on some happy drugs to make the pain go away until she passes a 4mm kidney stone. She's sipping on Pepsi even though I bought her lemons, juiced them and made her a fine lemon water drink that is supposed to help with the pain. I'll forgive her though since she puked up the lemon water and the Pepsi stays down. Now I wonder if I should even bother juicing the apples. I've got a load of laundry in the washing machine because the puppy decided to pee on Tasha's bed this morning for no apparent reason. Tasha's asleep on our bed. Kyra is hopefully asleep on her bed. I've taken a shower and feel a little bit more human.
But, la la. Tuesday is Temple day...
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