Winter Projects, Part 3 - knitting

I love to crochet! It is so relaxing, and even therapeutic. And I've made some neat things. But there are some things that are just better knitted, so I decided that I wanted to learn to knit. I looked up a few "how-to" videos on YouTube, and began my journey. At first it was incredibly frustrating. I just couldn't seem to do it right! But then I practiced a little more, and got a few pointers from my mom. I have only knitted a few rows, and it's really slow-going, but I think I am getting the hang of it. I still can't say that I love to knit (or that I'm very good at it), but I am going to continue to try for a while, and I just may change my mind. Now to figure out something I want to make, using my new-found knitting knowledge!

This is my practice knitting so far

Winter Projects, Part 2 - Apple Core Quilts

I am not a quilter. I would love to be, but thus far in my life I am not. Yes, I have made "quilts," but they just consisted of squares of fabric machine-sewn together, with batting and a backing fabric, and then yarn tied in each square to hold the batting in place. My grandma makes beautiful quilts. She makes them for each couple in our family who gets married, and for each baby born. And now my mom also quilts. And her quilts are fabulous, too. Quilting has always been on my "someday goals" list, but this winter I decided I might as well start now. So I am making two quilts - one for each of my kids. I am using only scraps from things that I've made for my kids, such as jammy pants, curtains, pillowcases, etc. I am using the "Apple Core" pattern, which technically is not supposed to have any repeated fabrics. However, some of my fabrics I am using twice in each quilt. Because I use so little of each fabric, it will take my a long time (probably years) to accumulate enough fabric scraps to make two quilts. So this will be an ongoing project for some years to come. I plan on doing all hand-stitching, which will also take me a very long time. So far I have just gathered my scraps, ironed them, and cut a few pieces out. But it's a start!

The scraps that I have so far...

A couple of the pieces that I've cut out

The first two pieces I've stitched together (although if you look closely, you'll see that they're not centered very well - this was just a practice - so I will take out the stitches and do them over)

Winter Projects, Part 1 - T-shirt Quilt

I like to do crafts. All kinds of crafts. Sewing, card-making, scrapbooking, crocheting, beading, you name it. And winter-time is the perfect time for crafting. Especially January and February. All the busy-ness of Christmas is over, yet it's still too cold to spend a lot of time outdoors. So usually in January I start several new craft projects. This year I think I've started more projects than usual, and so I thought I'd spend a few days explaining each one.

Jared and I have lots of t-shirts that we no longer wear (mainly staff shirts from our previous camp, but some others as well). We decided that we wanted to purge our dresser drawers, but we didn't want to throw away the shirts. So I decided to make a t-shirt quilt. I cut squares from each of the shirts that we didn't want anymore, and sewed them together to make a blanket. At this point I'm done sewing the top, but I need to purchase some batting and a backing fabric, and then finish the blanket. But here is the top:

Ballet Recital!

This year Ellie has been going to ballet class. She LOVES it, and I often find her dancing all over the house! Her favorite movie right now is Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses, and she tries to copy the ballet moves each time she watches it. It is so much fun to see her enjoying ballet so much! Last weekend she had her ballet recital. She was very nervous, but did a great job! My mom and one of my nieces made a trip up from Oregon to watch Ellie, and of course Jared, Parker and I went to see her. There were 8 girls in her class. They all looked so cute dressed up in their ballet costumes! And I think they all had a lot of fun!

Ellie in her recital costume - so cute:)

The back of Ellie's costume

Some of the girls practicing before the recital

Part of the girls' dance was to "grow like flowers"

Ellie and Daddy after the recital. Daddy was so proud!

Seasons

When I was in high school, there was a period of time when my small group leader rarely had a prayer request. She often said that she felt as if she were in a "summer" season in her life - in other words all was going well. She was thankful for her kids and her husband, and though sometimes unpleasant things came her way, she just seemed to have an attitude that was joyful no matter what. She would sometimes say that she wondered if maybe a "winter" was coming - that maybe some tragedy would happen because things had been so "right" for so long. And yet her "summer" continued. I always envied her life a little during those years, and hoped that someday my life would be something similar.

Well, in thinking over the recent months, I am realizing that I feel as though I am in a "summer" in my life. No, I don't have everything I could ever wish for, but yet really I do. I have a husband who loves me unconditionally. Who provides for my needs and the needs of our children. Who loves the Lord, and serves Him faithfully every day. Who romances me, makes me laugh, enjoys spending time with me. I have two wonderful children, who bless me every day. To hear them laugh makes my heart melt - every time. They are kind, and generous, polite. They make me proud. They are not perfect - nobody is - but they are such wonderful children. And already they both love the Lord. In fact, just yesterday Parker told me for the first time, in his two-year-old excitement, "Mom, I love God!" I have an amazing extended family, both on my side and on Jared's. Our families are supportive and encouraging. I have good friends. I have good health. I have everything I need, and also so much that I don't need, but that just makes life sweeter. And the One who gives it all to me is my Heavenly Father.

I would not change a thing about my life. I am so blessed. I feel more blessed now than I ever have. And yet I believe that it is not only my circumstances that have changed to make me feel this way, but more importantly my attitude. I can choose to focus on the things I want, that maybe I don't have. Or I can choose to focus on the wonderful things that I do have. And today that is what I choose to do. And while it is winter and a little bit chilly outside, inside it is a warm and wonderful summer!

Wonderful Alone Time!

This past weekend something amazing happened - I had the whole weekend alone with my hubby! Jared is really into bird hunting, and since we've moved he hasn't had many chances to hunt. He just doesn't know where to hunt on this side of the mountains yet, and it's quite a drive to hunt on the other side of the mountains. Well, the end of the hunting season is quickly approaching, and I wanted to make sure that he had another chance to hunt this year. So I made sure he could have the time off work, asked his parents to watch the kids, and booked a hotel room for this past weekend. I was going to surprise him, but I ended up telling him about it. We drove over on Friday night, hunted Saturday and Sunday, and came home Sunday evening. It was so nice having that time together, just the two of us! I used to go hunting with Jared pretty often when we were first married, and I don't think I had gone with him at all since having kids. We sat and waited for geese to fly in the mornings, and then hiked around and hunted ducks and quail in the afternoons. The weather was really cold, but it didn't rain or snow on us. What a blessing is was to spend a whole weekend together! It is so important to take that time for our marriage, but all too often we don't take the time. One of our newest goals is to take more time for each other!

Jared and me waiting for some of the geese to fly

A porcupine we came across - he was in a tree and Jared got nice and close for a picture (with his gun in hand just in case).

New Year's Eve

We had a very fun New Year's Eve this year. Actually, we had 2 very fun New Year's Eves! A few days before New Year's Eve, the kids and I went with a friend of ours to a local mall where they have a celebration every night for about a month before Christmas and then after Christmas until New Year's Eve. For the week before New Year's Eve, they have a "New Year's Eve" party every night. It takes place along the sidewalk, and there is music; drummers all dressed up playing drums; dancing bears, mice, etc.; people on stilts; confetti. They pass out noisemakers, and everyone blows them. Of course, this party goes from 7-7:30pm, not until midnight, but it was very fun, and I think both of the kids really enjoyed it!

Then came the real New Year's Eve. Jared had to work, so the kids and I decided to have our own little New Year's Eve party, and they both stayed up until midnight. We had special snacks, strawberry soda in special glasses, played games, danced, watched movies, and then blow our noisemakers and yelled, "Happy New Year!" It was a lot of fun, and thankfully the kids both slept in the next morning:)