Autumn Productivity

For some reason, autumn is a time where I’m just itching to be productive.  I get a creative bug and want to do all kinds of things.  (See this post on knitting and sewing.)  The baby blanket and felt birthday crown might be done, but those aren’t the only two projects I’ve got planned.  We went apple picking in Michigan and I’ve been making applesauce.  I would like to get at least two more batches of that made along with some apple pie filling for the freezer.  (And along those lines I’ve got things I need to do, such as make chicken stock and extra meals for the freezer, but those things aren’t near as fun as apple deliciousness.)   I put out all kinds of fall decorations.  I’ve also got scarves and hats to knit for winter wear and I want to make an activity advent calendar for Hayden this year.  In addition to that, I’ve got fabric to make living room curtains, which doesn’t match our walls and so equates to a paint job as well.

What is it about fall that compels me to bring out the sewing machine, cast on the knitting needles, and turn on the crock-pot?  Is there some innate sense that I must get ready for winter like a squirrel gathers its nuts?  It doesn’t sound at all fun or whimsical when I put it that way, but maybe its just a practical natural thing.  A time of preparation for the colder, less vigorous season of the year.  Of course, that preparation isn’t what it used to be in the old days. 

I knit because I enjoy it and love seeing the boys wear something I made, not because its necessary to our survival.  I love the simple joy of opening a jar of my own applesauce up to eat with dinner.  Seeing curtains hanging in my living room that I made would be very satisfying.  And watching Mason cozy up to a blanket that I poured my love into overwhelms me with its sweet tenderness.  Using my (albeit-limited) skills might be some internal instinct to prepare for the upcoming season, but that bit of homemade goodness adds just a little extra touch of heart-warming, home-filling affection and love.  And perhaps that is whimsical.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

So today is Saturday, but I've been wanting to add the "this moment" to my blog for forever, so here is this week's moment- on Saturday.

{this moment} Borrowed from soulemama

Knitting, Sewing and Showing Off

Today has been a super productive day around here.  That productivity feels wonderful after both Hayden and I being sick for over a week, and as a result, we did nothing.  And I certainly mean nothing.  Now we’re getting back into the swing of things: doing circle time (a new thing for us), getting the house back in order, cooking meals, and… I finished two projects today.  Woot!

Well, to be fair, the knitting I finished last week while sick but today I finally washed and blocked it, so it’s now drying on the floor in our guest room.  My knitting project is Mason’s baby blanket.  This is the pattern I used, with a modification on the bind off I found on Ralvery.  I decided that it was time to get going on the baby blanket since I started it at the end of my pregnancy and hadn’t touched it since we moved.  I’m so glad that I switched colors frequently; otherwise I think the piece might have gotten tedious.  It was over 600 stitches around by the time I finished.  One thing I discovered that I need to learn: how to frog correctly.  There are several glaring mistakes in the blanket, but by the time I realized they were there I was afraid to unravel for fear of messing it up more than it already was.  But overall I’m proud of it.  It’s by far my biggest knit undertaking and just finishing it is encouraging.

The other project I finished today was a felt birthday crown for Hayden.  His birthday is coming up on Wednesday and I SO wanted to do this for him, but was afraid that I would run out of time.  This is the pattern I used http://juicy-bits.typepad.com/juicy_bits/2008/09/32-felt-birthday-crown-tutorial.html.  The instructions were easy to follow and I was so happy with how quickly it came together.  I’ll be honest, I essentially copied her design just switching the colors to Hayden’s preference and using the decorative stitches available on my machine.  I think it turned out great.  Now I just hope Hayden loves it as much as I do.  J  I’ll also post pictures of him in it next Wednesday.

I could have cleaned the house instead of spending that time on fun projects- it definitely needs it.  But there’s something incredibly relaxing about handwork, and it’s so satisfying to see the finished project and think, “I did that!”  The fact that the things I created are for my boys only adds to that feeling of satisfaction and pride.  So, here I am, shamelessly showing off.  ;-)

Me Time

           “Me time.”  I heard the phrase a thousand times while I was pregnant with Hayden.  “Make sure you take time for you” was the most common advice I received.  Well, I didn’t.  I honestly don’t think I knew how.  It was so automatic those first months (ok- years) to just spend my time focused on our home and Hayden.  It was too easy to feel behind if I worked on a craft project or sat down to lose myself in a book.  Or I’d feel like I was neglecting my family if dinner wasn’t from scratch and on the table at the same time every night.  Then along came Mason, a move across three states, a new job for Arnie and well… you get the idea.  Me time was non-existent, I still didn’t know how to do it and yet I needed it more than ever. 

I began to feel awful about myself.  I felt frumpy, I didn’t like my post-pregnancy body, the house didn’t seem clean enough for how much time I spent on it and I felt like I wasn’t being a good mommy to my boys.  I needed to do something to get out of the funk that I was in, but again, how do I do that?

It started with a Pilates class 3 months ago.  I’d never done Pilates.  I’m not athletic…at all.  But our neighbor across the street hosts a Pilates class in her basement every Monday night and invited me to come.  Arnie encouraged me to go, so I did, and it was so much fun.

I love my Monday night workouts, talking to other Moms in our neighborhood and stretching my body.  I feel great when I get home and know when I miss a week.  But more than working out, its encouraged me to take more time for myself.  I don’t leave the boys with daddy any other night of the week, but I realized that when I took that time I was a better Mommy all the way around.  So now, even if I have stuff to do around the house, I take the boys’ daily rest time to do something for me.  I read, write, knit or take a little snooze of my own (that’s only occasionally though).  Its so nice to feel refreshed and ready to be there for my boys.  Of course, a lot of the time they don’t nap at the same time and those days I don’t get “me time.”  But because I’ve spent other days focused on doing something small for myself, it doesn’t bother me.

Its also helped me to see other areas that I’ve neglected.  My wardrobe was horrible (something I realized when trying to pack for Michigan’s cooler weather for our visit to see family).  Nothing fit and I’m missing some key items (like a coat!) and while I was putting it off until I lost all the pregnancy weight, I can see that it was affecting the way I feel about myself.  I hardly ever wear make-up or actually do my hair, and these are things I used to enjoy that made me feel good about myself.  So I got my hair done before our Michigan trip and I started to remedy the clothing issue with a fun shopping trip with my mom just yesterday. 

I have a long way to go on making sure I take care of myself, and because its easy to fall back into old habits I have to actually remind myself that I’m important too and that I’m better at taking care of my family when I carve out time for me.  Yes, carve it out.

I still don’t have it together.  I’m still frumpy most days, the house is messier than I’d like and there’s always room for improvement on the Mommy front.  But Im slowly beginning to feel better about me and that makes a world of difference in how I view life.  Now if only I could make myself workout more often than Monday Pilates.

Labor Day Camping

The weeks have flown by and I haven’t had a moment to write, so I wanted to do so while I had the chance.  Over Labor Day weekend we went camping at a little campground called Enota in the north Georgia mountains.  The staff was wonderful and the grounds beautiful. 

The campground has a working farm and does tours every day.  So Hayden got to gather eggs, milk a cow, feed the baby bull (who wasn’t so little), pet bunnies and goats and see baby chicks.  He also got to ride one of the miniature horses, Max, who was the highlight of Hayden’s weekend.  In addition to all of this there were campfires, s’mores and hiking that led to a beautiful waterfall.  There’s even a 2 mile hiking trail that leads to the Appalachian Trail, but I wasn’t brave enough for that toting a toddler and a 6 month old.

                Mason was great and just took it all in.  Of course, even though I set him on the blanket whenever we were cooking and whatnot, he managed to squirm his way to the edge and grab at the grass.  He was covered in it anytime I picked him up, it was so cute.  Arnie got to spend time with the boys in both quality and quantity, something that’s difficult to do in the hustle and bustle of home.

                We ended up heading out on Sunday and stopped in Helen, a small, touristy “German” town.  We got some delicious authentic German food.  Otherwise, I definitely prefer the less hectic and less tourist-driven Frankenmuth in Michigan.  Which sounds funny, because Frankenmuth is definitely tourist driven, but somehow its much better done.

                In a few summers when Mason is older we might try tubing down the Chattahoochee River, near the campground.  It looked like a lot of fun and I think the boys would love it.

I can hardly believe the weekend is over.  It was such a great way to connect with each other and with nature.  We camped right on the creek and mixed with the din of crickets was the sound of bubbling water flowing over the rocks.  There’s a peacefulness that comes when listening to the sounds of nature and a crackling fire, to a child’s laughter or squeal when he discovers something previously unknown.  What’s wonderful is that we get to bring a little bit of that home with us, that sense of tranquility and extra family harmony that being together wholly in nature does for us like nothing else can.  And what’s more, if we’re lucky, it will last us until the next time.

Play & Progress

So last week Pa got to visit us for a few days.  It was great timing because Arnie was going out of town for a few days at the same time, so we weren’t all by ourselves and had a distraction with Pa.  He got to love on his grand-boys and played hide-and-seek with Hayden over and over again.  It was so much fun to watch them.  The pool was a big hit too, especially in this heat, which is in full blast in August.

I’m so grateful to have family.  We know that this is where we’re supposed to be, but sometimes its hard when you realize how much of the boys growing up the grandparents miss.  This week Arnie’s parents and nephew will be in town and I’m sure Hayden will have a blast; he’s been looking forward to it ever since Pa left.

But just because we’re in between visits from the grandparents doesn’t mean that its been a dull week.  Hayden decided that he wanted to start wearing big boy underwear and go potty in the toilet.  (Yay!)  He’s been doing great, with only a few accidents a day.  Once he’s determined there’s no stopping him.  Mason had been busy as well.  He rolled over, from back to belly.  I was so excited that Arnie thought the house was on fire as I was yelling for him to come into the living room.  I promptly got the camera and rolled Mason back over in hopes that he would do it again.  Of course, he got mad that I ruined all his hard work and refused to cooperate.  Haha.  He also got to taste his first solid food.  We decided to do peaches, and while he wasn’t sure at first, he quickly warmed to the taste.  He still can’t really grab them up, they’re too slippery, but give him some time and I think he’ll be rivaling Hayden at the dinner table.

Its been a fun week to see all the developments taking place here.  Its crazy how quickly they grow.  When I write down everything that happened and realize that it all took place in the course of a week, it just makes me realize how much I need to savor these times because they only come around once.  So here’s to a week of play and progress, with many more to come!

"Those" Days

We had several days this week that were “those” kind of days.  You know the ones.  It completely broadsided me.  I didn’t see it coming and had no idea what to do to make it better.  Those are days you just work to get through.  There’s no cleaning, dinner is takeout and by bedtime, you are so exhausted that you wonder how much longer you can keep up.  At least that’s what I did.  I began to think that the terrible two’s had come upon us late and transformed my child into a small ogre and that it would be years before I got my sweet baby boy back.  Yes, those days were that bad.  Then Thursday morning dawned.

                We woke up earlier than usual, and I was immediately apprehensive because I thought that might make matters worse and we were in for another day of tears and tantrums.  My only goals for the day were to clean up the disaster in my kitchen and put dinner in the crock pot so we didn’t have to eat out three days in a row.  Happily, I did both of those plus a load of laundry.  I have to admit that I was so tempted to do more, to catch up on the chores left undone earlier in the week.  But I didn’t.  Mason went down for his morning nap and I snatched up the monitor and Hayden and I went outside.

                It was hot, but beautiful. The high school down the road was having marching band practice and the drums gave tempo to our play.  We checked all the birdhouses in the backyard (despite them being here from the previous owners, unused by birds and in need of repair).  We chased the giant ball all around and when Mason woke up the game continued while I carried him on my hip.  We were outside until noon, and then I went in to make lunch while Hayden kept playing.

                The rest of the day was just as peaceful.  We had rest time and then, because Thursday is painting day, Hayden painted while Mason had belly time in the play room and I just sat watching and talking and playing with them.  After painting we did baths.  Mason had so much fun splashing in the water, and Hayden of course played and played.  Dinner was a bit hectic to finish up, but then, that just seems to come with the time of day.  The evening followed in the same happy way, and when bedtime came the day closed with quiet cuddles and our traditional stories.  Walking down the stairs after he fell asleep, all I could think was how wonderful the day had been. 

                Would it have been so great if we hadn’t had such crazy days previously?  I would guess not.  The peace, contentment and joy of the day were immeasurably sweet, in part because they were surrounded by the chaotic.  I realized that this was the kind of day I live for, where I can delight in my family.  Its the kind that makes everything worth it, even “those” days.