January thanks

Walk in the light, the beautiful light.

Come where the dewdrops of mercy shine bright.

Shine all around us by day and by night.

Jesus, the light of the world.

- from Common Prayer, a Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals

Still counting...

•  a nice easing back into school
•  students being brave and letting go
•  Levi giggles
•  car starter gift, the warmth it provides!
•  a husband who does dishes, laundry, diapers, cooking and anything else; cheerily, no less
•  common prayer; the early mornings and late nights
•  a first tooth and a sitting up baby
•  banging the piano with Papa
•  mild winter days
•  Katie and Matt's birthday party, lots of new "family" to meet
•  morning chai 
•  Kimmie time - before we send her off to Rwanda...and of course a new blog to keep up.
• Papa, putting down the Russian novel, to read something a *little* less sophisticated...

(Dare to find joy? Join the thanks counting...)

5 Months!

(Levi on the 7s)

This Moment - uncle time

{this moment} - A Friday ritual

Joining with SouleMama

Christmas Project Round Up: Hand, Hand, Fingers Thumb!

Here's another little gift I made for Levi.  When I take care of Levi's friend Evan, we often read the book "Hand, Hand, Fingers Thumb" (again and again and again!).  I love a book with good rhythm.  This one has great rhythm and a fun story about about drumming monkeys ("dum ditty, dum ditty dum, dum, dum!").   Levi really seems to enjoy the book too, so I bought it for him and then created a sock monkey with a drum to go along with the story.  I used the classic sock monkey pattern and then created the drum out of a little round wooden box I found at the craft store. I painted it to look like a drum from the book, mod podged it and then attached a string (hole on either side and knotted it from the inside).  Although he doesn't appreciate it entirely now, hopefully within the next year he'll enjoy making his own monkey drum while we read the book. 

(A couple of years ago I made another "prop" to go with a book when I created my mitten full of animals to go with "The Mitten". I'm planning on saving this one until Levi gets a little older, but it's a fun idea if you have an older child.) 

Christmas Project Round-Up: Gnomie Hat and Mittens

I made this little hat and mitten set for my babe.  These were all done in an afternoon, so a very quick knit indeed! I stumbled upon this gnomie hat pattern and the mittens are actually the same pattern as the paws from his bear costume, I just used bigger sized needles. I put them on a string so we wouldn't lose the them (huh, can I put his socks on strings? I lose baby socks like nobody's business!). 

I think this set would be the perfect winter gift for any little person, if you can stand the cuteness. And come on, you could probably knit these up in less time than it takes to get through crazy holiday mall traffic. I try my best to steer clear of that place as much as possible!  

Ain't he the cutest little gnome you ever did see? 

Christmas Project Round Up: Tricky

This present for Brian and Levi came about in a funny way.  You may have seen the very popular book/elf called "The Elf on the Shelf".  We were in Target in November and Brian saw it and said "I used to love my Elf on a Shelf when I was a kid, it was one of the most magical parts of my childhood!" Well,  of course I was intrigued and decided to try to make my own elf for Brian and Levi.  Eventually I realize that Brian definitely did not have the book, considering it was only published a couple of years ago and that he really just had some cute little elves that he used to play with (and yes, they look a lot like the "Elf on a Shelf" elf!).  

After looking further into the new phenomenon, I realized that the book is a little creepy. Apparently the elf is sent to spy on the kids and report back to Santa as to whether they are good or bad. They also aren't allowed to touch the elf?? I don't know, just not my style. Santa was never a big deal in my house growing up, so I'm not really into having a "Santa Spy" hanging around. I'm hoping my kids are motivated to do good in other ways. 

Anyways, I decided to make a new little elfish tradition for Levi and Brian.  I made my little elf out of wood and fabric scraps (sorry, no specific tutorial, I just raided my craft room and went at it quite haphazardly). When I finished, I put him in a box with a little elf bed (I mean, you wouldn't want to put the poor little guy in a cold hard box by himself) and a little note from Santa on the top. The note basically said that "Tricky" would spend the holiday season with our family, but to be careful since he is little mischievous.  The idea is that every day in December Brian or I would hide the elf somewhere in the house or create some sort of mischief for the elf to have done for Levi to find.  Simple and fun and hopefully no creep. :)

(I found the bed at the craft store in the wood section, I think it was a mini-tray. I painted it green and made a mattress, pillow and quilt out of fabric scraps.)

(I put a thin wooden wheel-type thing in the bottom of my elf so that he would sit.  He is filled with stuffing, although there isn't any in his arms and legs.  His head is just a wooden piece I found that had the craft store.)

Can't wait to see what sorts of mischief he gets into next December!

A Year of Blessings

Thank you, Lord, for - 

- precious family and friends

- a slowly growing belly and beautiful baby boy

- many wonderful "firsts"

- new lessons learned, stretching

- a sister's engagement

- a warm, colorful home

- slowly figuring out how to navigate parenthood

- the most loving, self-sacrificing husband and Papa

- a new gift, a new tradition 

- laughter and joy

- mistakes and forgiveness

- our other kids, our students and the lessons they teach

 - collaborative art and music

- love overflowing 

- all of the specific beauties of winter, spring, summer and fall

an abundantly blessed year.