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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Knitting

I love to knit. It is something I am not naturally gifted at either. So instead of giving up I decided to learn, mostly by myself, how to do it better. The only person I know whom knits is my husband's Grandmother, Oma. When she is here she is very helpful but sadly she lives in Connecticut and we only see them 2-3 times a year. She taught me last summer how to purl and to do a knitted cast on. Of course since I did not knit regularly then I had to relearn both methods, but now I think I can call myself a knitter. 


To date I have knitted 5 scarves, 2 ducks, 2 bunnies, 1 goose, and 1 sheep. My goal is to take a class at our Parks and Rec center which claims to teach sweater knitting to beginners as well as learn to crochet this summer. All of this adds to my long term goal of being able to knit the kids sweaters-hats- or gloves by next winter. I realize that this is a lofty goal but I am not wanting to learn anything super fancy. I know all the basics now, I just want to be able to knit more useful things for my family. 


Three books that have helped me learn solo are: 

All About Knitting by Martingale & Co 


http://www.amazon.com/All-About-Knitting-Martingale-Co/dp/1564778983/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301187373&sr=8-1-spell


This awesome guide to everything knitting was a sweet gift given to me by my mother in law. It has patterns for all levels and is just a great guide to have around when you run into patterns that confuse you. It basically is a knitting encyclopedia. 



Knitted Animals by Anne-dorthe Grigaff 


http://www.amazon.com/Knitted-Animals-Education-Anne-dorthe-Grigaff/dp/1903458684/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1301187412&sr=1-2-spell


I LOVE this book. All the projects in here are for beginners and the patterns are not in shorthand, so it is good practice. Anyone can do these and if you work your way through all the animals in the book, then you will learn all the stitches. 



Kids Knitting: Projects for Kids of all Ages by Melanie Falick 


http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Knitting-Projects-all-Ages/dp/1579652417/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301187435&sr=1-1


This book is a great beginners guide. I like their illustration on the different stitches. It is very clear and easy to understand.


Youtube
http://cyberseams.com/how_to_cyberseams.php#knitting stitches and methods

So enjoy and maybe one night instead of just TV, you can knit too! Its fun and relaxing, I promise : )







Daily verse: And God spoke all these words: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. – Exodus 20:1-3 NIV







Thursday, March 24, 2011

Faithfulness and Random Acts

Recently I have been struggling with reconciling the changing relationships in my life. As we people change, so do our relationships. Fortunately most of these changes have been wonderful while others very hurtful. For longer than year now one of these has been weighting on my heart, and that weight has gotten a lot heavier in the past month. This caused me to question my worth, Jonas' worth, and my value as a daughter, wife, and mother. In the midst of praying over this, God gave me truly a supernatural peace and breakthrough in perspective on Tuesday. In addition to this he opened my eyes to other relationships in my life that have been growing in depth and love, among the most important my relationship with God and Craig, but also others.  One of those people is my friend Amanda. She has been such an inspiration and joy to be around. She is a true kindred spirit. God has put her in my life, as well as many others, in a pretty radical way when we first met.

 Six years ago in Fall 2005, I came to CNU completely independent from my parents as a result of domestic abuse from my father, whom I have since reconciled with. I also spent a large part of my senior year of high school on my own working and supporting myself due to abuses happening at home. So when I came to CNU I was very alone with no support network that I was in contact with (except for my Aunt Meeta and Uncle Bill, for whom I have the utmost love and  respect). I got a job on campus and worked overtime at it until pay check time came...

I was told then that they could not pay me unless I could get my birth certificate and social security card, both of which my mother had and refused to give me at the time. So here I was in the CNU Human Resources office crying and upset that I could not get paid due to my home issues...again. The worker there was so kind to me. She got me all the information I needed to get a new card and certificate. She comforted me. And then I walked out and never saw her again.. or so I thought. Not soon after this I began dating Craig and we starting attending our home group. There I meet so many loving and wonderful people, among them were the Smiths, Josh and Amanda. (plus now Payton and baby Jude)!

After six years of friendship, I consider Amanda a very close friend. We have had kids together and recently have gotten closer. It was not until a month ago over coffee that she told me she was that worker who helped me that day when I could not get paid and felt soo defeated. Her! I always considered her a blessing in my life but at that point I was convinced that God has purposefully put her in my life then and now. That realization just deepened my connection to her and our friendship.

I had always wonderer..

Random acts of kindness DO make a difference and leave a lasting legacy. So thank you Amanda for being my friend and allowing the Lord to use you in more ways than you know. 

I did get my cards back from my Mom, after talking to Amanda, which prompted me to see her. Soon after we reconciled and our relationship continues to improve!!!  I love my Mom :)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Return of the Birds!

Since making our decision to not send Deirdre to preschool this Fall, we have begun a new home preschool program with her- in conjunction with weekly play dates and biweekly church 'preschool' for social interaction. The program we are using is wonderful and is also free. I discovered via the Bella Luna blog. The curriculum was created by an awesome crafter Mom and homeschooler whom runs a website called "Wee Folk Art". It is seasonally based and fits Deirdre's personality perfectly (with an added touch of detail and depth where needed from Mama). 


About three weeks ago Deirdre got her subscription renewal to "My Big Backyard" magazine and with it came a pair of binoculars. She was immediately in love with them. So we took to the yard to observe the birds. At this point however the birds were hiding, since it was still very cold out. Then, not a week or so later, she noticed that the birds had returned!!! She began spying them all on her own and hearing them. 


Needless to say the return of the birds has been fun and coincides with the first lesson in our new curriculum on birds! How neat? Deirdre now knows so much about them and the schooling is really enriching her time outdoors. We have been keeping a bird and garden journal as well as a nature collection too. I will post pictures tomorrow of them since I am on the laptop. 


Deirdre also can now draw bodies, limbs, and faces. This may not seem like a significant development, but it is. I am so proud of her since it really, as is the case with all of her milestones, of her of own making. I watched her practice the drawings, not without frustration and a few "but you draw them best Mommy", before she got it! She was sooo proud of herself and rightfully so. Her effort was commendable. 


Another reason why I enjoy this version of home preschool is that I can go at her pace, challenge her where needed, as well as spend more time on topics that interest her...and all for free. I realize that "having a break" is nice but I do not mind having her around in the least. I actually prefer to have her around, haha. 


I spend lots of time one on one with both my kids and I get my housework and homework done. We also are cloth diapering and those are working out great plus they're getting washed (another thing I am proud of myself for). Also I have been cooking about 5-6 nights a week (Craig cooks one and the other is leftovers) from scratch for a month plus. That is something I am proud of because I am not a "cook". Well let me rephrase that, it is not something I like nor does cooking come easily to me. But I can cook and do it tastefully. I am however an great baker. So the I need a break "to get more things done" argument is moot. But I digress...


Basically, with preschool, I do not see the value in paying to have a break from my child when I do not need it nor want it. I like being with her, teaching her, and it does not seem like a necessary service for her or us. My husband also works afternoons/evenings. He only gets to really see the kids during the day. If she was gone 2 to 3 times a week, that would severely cut into his time with her. So he was a fan so keeping her home immediately. The quality of education never came into the decision process for us either because well in addition to having taught at a preschool for 4 years, I  will have a degree in less than a month in history, education, and language :) So I feel more than qualified to teach her and I know I have so far and will continue to do it well. 


Last but certainly not least, we felt convicted to do this as a family and Craig did as our spiritual leader. We believe that this is what the Lord wants us to do and we prayerfully considered it. 


So I will leave you with this verse and pictures to follow. Please do understand this is what we feel is best for our child and family. I do not think other people who send their kiddos to preschool do not like to be around them- that is just simply an argument I had been told and I wanted to specifically address it here. To each their own and I think preschools can be great! Who knows what we will  decide next year when we revisit the topic?











Daily Verse: 

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

-2 Timothy 3:14-17

Monday, March 21, 2011

Wine and Oz

Tonight happens to be my hubby's and mine "special" evening- among others during an entire week- but with this one evening a week, we watch a movie and have a romantic wine dinner after the kids go to bed. Its lots of fun, trust me :)
So I have had my wine and it is bedtime as well as time to watch Craig's show Oz. So I will leave you this this daily verse: 



Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” 

–Luke 19:9-10