Projects

I've got a few things to work on in the next two days. We're going to see my parents so that I can help my mom get her classroom in order. She just had surgery and isn't quite up to her normal (super crazy) level of activity. We're also going to celebrate my nephew Moses's first birthday. So, I have to make his bday present, make a gift for my sister (a thank you for letting us stay with them), and I really want to make a couple of I-Spy pillow for a couple of her friends. We'll see what gets done.

For now, I'll show you a little knitting project that finally got completed and handed off to it's recipient. Here's Pinwheel:


And here's the best part of my post. My dear friend Jena and her husband Kate just welcomed their first little one. You can read about it on her blog. There's a pic and a wonderful birth story.

Some Craftiness

I've been very intrigued by some of the neat Waldorf/natural/handmade crafts that seem to abound on the internet. I made Alex a Waldorf doll for Christmas and it was HARD...I know why people charge upwards of $100 for them! However, I've found a neat craft that I can actually do--Bendy dolls. Here are my first ones:



If you want to see some that are made much better than mine, check out Mother Hues or Natural Playthings. I love these 2 sites.

Delay, delay, delay...

I suck at updating this blog. I hope to be a bit more regular about it, but I've said that before, so we shall see.

To catch up:

Miriam turned 3 the end of July, so I have 2 3 year olds now. Noah is 16 months and his lovely curly hair is getting long enough that people ask me if "that little girl" is mine.
Does he look like a girl to you?


At the beginning of the month we went on a week long visit to the New Meadow Run community, one of the many Bruderhof communities world-wide. The daily life there was very, very different than what any of us are accustomed to. Either Chris or I dropped the kids off at the "babyhouse" at 7:30 each day; then we went about the work we had set out for us. The kids ate lunch AND dinner with their age groups and were picked up at 5. We then had family time and put the kids to bed so that we could attend the evening meal (grade 5 and up) at 7. I thought the kids would HATE this (I wasn't so sure I'd like it--I really enjoy staying home with the kids and I've chosen to do that very thing). However, the kids loved it. Noah and Alex were especially glad to see us each evening, but all three kids simply loved being in their groups. Noah even started going on the potty, like all his little classmates. Miriam would have been fine to spend even more time with her group, but she always ran to us and hugged us, too.

I'd love to process some of our expereiences some more, but I hope to write more about them, too:

Here are some pics from that trip.





(forgive the awful pic of me--I blame it all on the fibroids and hernia!)

A story to tell

http://palmerlp.livejournal.com

Palmer's story is one of redemption, hope, heartache and grace. I wish everyone had been reading of the last 3 years.

Heartbreak.

So much pain and bad news today.

Dear friends hurting and being hurt, trying to muddle their way through their heartbreak.

Mark Palmer has died and left this earth, but we trust that he is painfree and surrounded by love that we can only begin to imagine. Our hearts hurt and we pray for peace for Amy and Micah.

I do not understand this. I can not make sense of it.

tagged

I've been tagged by Amy and I find these little things rather fun (it's great for those of us who are so tired we can't think of anything to write and yet want to, desperately.

four jobs i've had in my life:
- Waitress
- Barista
- Bookseller
- Bookkeeper

four movies i can watch o'er and o'er:
- Love Actually (promise I'm not copying)
- Lord of the Rings trilogy
- first 3 Star Wars
-

four places i have lived:
- Lancaster, PA
- Cincinnati, OH
- Houghton, NY
- Indianapolis, IN

four tv shows i love to watch:
(we don't have a tv, sadly for me)

four places i have been on vacation:
- Ocean City, MD
- Los Angeles, CA
- Paris, France
- Minneapolis, MN

four of my favorite dishes:
- Home made Macaroni and Cheese
- Any Pasta with Alfredo Sauce
- Amish BBQ Chicken from Lancaster--mmmmm
- Rita's Italian Ice

four websites i visit daily:
- dooce.com
- amitymama.com
- bloglines.com (and then onto many, many blogs
- sewingmamas.com

four places i would rather be:
- Lancaster, PA
- Kalona, IA
- Ephrata, PA
- Anywhere relaxing (with my family, naturally)

four bloggers i tag:
- Jena
- Chris
(I think I've read this already on all the other blogs, but feel free to join in!)

Oh, and the reason...

I've not been too inclined the write down much in this here blog, because I have some strong ideas of where I want it to go, more into the crafty-parenting spectrum (as opposed to just parenting). However, I'm really not happy with the herculean effort need to upload my pictures to my computer and then to get them to blogger. The "easy upload" feature on blogger doesn't work for me and despite numerous emails asking for help, I've receieved nothing but form e-mails. Sigh.

So, as soon as we figure out the picture problem, I'm sure I'll post more.

Well, ummm...

It's been a long time. We've been doing find here, preparing for Alex's 3rd birthday! (All he wants is a "boo coo cay!"--blues clues cake).

Alex's speech is coming along really well and with that comes greater assertion of his will. He's very good at giving me a teen-agery sounding O-AY, MOM! When I ask him to do something. Miriam is discovering that Alex will not always bend to her will. I'm proud of that boy. Miriam is not one to be crossed. He's a brave one.

Last week Miriam hit one of her friends and I grabbed her arm to make her look at me and:
"Miriam! We do NOT hit!"
"Mama! We do NOT pinch!"
"I'm not pinching you."
"Yes, you ARE!"

She's been running around the house barking like a dog and licking people. We have to remind her, when we're out in public, that although she is allowed to bark, licking strangers is a no-no.

Noah has been teething lately is wants to held often. When I get overwhelmed by all I have to do, I remind myself that he'll be little for such a short time. He's really a delightful, loving, smiley little boy. He's almost 11 months old. It's funny that although he has both "girl" and "boy" toys surrounding him, he's gravitated to cars, trains, keys, etc. Although he does also love the little strawberry shortcake dolls. I wonder if we inadvertantly do something that makes him go toward those things. We generally don't hand him toys--we let him discover them for himself.

I do wonder what's up with my children. I could never have weaned either of them by a year (not that I wanted to), not without some drama. Noah is as attached to my breasts as he was 6 months ago. It doesn't bother me, in fact, secretly I'm glad that I must make some fine milk--they both nursed far more than they ate solid foods--even at ten months. Because my doctor suggested delaying solids until a year b/c of Noah's mammoth size, this works out well all around.