A Little Action

A group of knitters from all over the world have been knitting hats and scarves for orphans in Estonia. These are my contributions:

Both are knit with Paton's Merino Wool. The red is just a basic hat, and the blue is the Waffle Hat pattern. (I really like this hat, and plan on using it for one of my kids in the future.) I felt good while knitting these hats - I got the same feeling I have when I knit hats for my kids. Because of my efforts, small children will feel warm and loved.

Little girl is really contemplating the idea of "orphan". We've told her that sometimes, Mommys and Daddys can't take care of their children, and they don't have anyone else in their family to take care of them. (We then covered what would happen to her if anything happened to her Mommy and Daddy.) A couple of days later, little girl brought up the orphans again. She wanted to know if we could send her a card, and maybe some stickers, to make her smile. She wondered if we could call her, and she wondered if maybe Santa would bring her something special for Christmas. I'm really proud that my little four year old wants to take some action to make life brighter for someone else.

Today, we'll be making some cards to send to an orphan or two in Estonia. What are you doing to make life brighter for someone else today?

FYI

1. I've knit a couple of cup cozies for an event at church next month. I forgot to take pictures of them before I brought them to church to be displayed. One of them is cabled, and I think it's really cute. I don't really know why a mug with a handle needs a cozy, but I sure like the way it looks.

1a. I'm thinking about designing a cozy with some colorwork in it - just because.

1b. I'm not sure where I'll find the time to do that, given my already ambitious Christmas knitting list.

2. I spent the afternoon knitting with ladies at church - we're making baby items to bring to new moms. It was really a nice time!

3. You're probably starting to think that this blog will never have pictures again.

4. The girls have colds. I'm disinfected just about everything.

5. I have a cold. I had one last weekend too.

6. I was supposed to be volunteering at little girl's school tomorrow. We won't be going.

7. Hopefully, I'll get lots of knitting done instead!

On Mothering

Mothering is hard. Mothering is so hard that I am convinced that a large reason mothers exist is to help their daughters when they become mothers. I'm beginning to think it's unnatural to not live in close proximity to your mother (I understand that for some people, their relationship with their mom is not all that, and they will think I'm crazy. Bear with me...) I truly believe that God intended for young mothers to have their own mothers there to help them. The Bible says in Genesis 2:24 "For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." Do you notice how the man leaves his family, but the wife does not leave hers?

This week, I've felt terribly alone in parenting. Thankfully, my mom is only a phone call away, and offers encouragement. But she is too far away to come over and watch the kids for a few minutes so that I can have a few moments to rejuvenate and recover (or, you know, go to the bathroom by myself.) We all imagine having children of our own. Usually, they are perfect children who listen the first time, and naturally fall into routines, and lavish love and affection on us. Real children, of course, do not listen the first time, need constant reminders to do everything, and sometimes, they make it very clear that they don't like us.

Mothers, of course, are only half the equation. But it's interesting to me how very different fathers are from mothers. I'm sure that much of that difference (at least in our house) has to do with the time present. My husband is a wonderful father. He's willing to change diapers, feed children, wash dishes, discipline, check homework, and take over so I can take a nap. But he works two jobs, and he has a hard time remembering what day the science test is, or when it's yellow day at school, or what skill we're working on with which child when. These are tasks that fall to me, the mother. I think these are tasks that are meant to be mine, and I want to take them on and do them well. This week, I think I'm failing.

Mothering is hard work. It's hard and exhausting and sometimes, it's not nearly as rewarding as I think it should be. Thankfully, there are big baby smiles, and hugs and kisses from small children, and chocolate and ice cream. And mothers; my mother to help me through these times and remind me that someday, I will help my daughters be mothers.

Hi there.

I feel like I owe you (whoever you are) a good long post. A little bit about the knitting I've been doing, and little bit about the mommy life in general. I've been having a hard time focusing on things lately though, and I'm not sure I can muster up much at the moment, but I'll try.

I've started the Fair Isle hat for little boy - I've been working on it here and there, and have the border done. I've knit a hat for an orphan in Estonia. It was going to be kind of girly with some cables, but then there was some confusion about whom was knitting for whom, so it's just a basic unisex hat instead. However, it's bright red and hopefully the color will be cheery enough. I cast on this morning for a bright blue hat for my other orphan. This one will have a little bit of texture, but again, I'm hoping the color brightens up his Christmas. I also have a sweater hanging out on the needles for the baby, which I hope to pick up again sometime this year. I should probably take some pictures to jazz up these posts, but that sounds like so much work right now.

Mommy-ing has been a little stressful the last few weeks. Big Boy can be a challenging, and lately, I just feel like I lack the energy to be on top of everything. I'm hoping that prayer and love will overcome all my shortcomings in this area. Little boy has been struggling since his sister started school - the number of friends available for playdates has reduced a lot this year, and unfortunately, we just don't know a lot of boys. I have a meeting later this week with the school district to see if he qualifies for any of their preschool programs. I have mixed emotions about this - he's only 3 - but we'll see what our options are and go from there. Little girl is loving school, but has developed a little attitude which we are encouraging to disappear. The baby is wonderfully happy, and very much enjoying the world of solid food. I gave her the tiniest piece of chocolate chip cookie the other day, and she looked at me like I revealed a little piece of heaven. Score one for Mommy!

Today was in the mid-60s, so we've been outside most of the day. Hopefully, everyone will go to sleep nice and early!

Happy knitting!

Keeping Score

Annoyances:

1. 9 year old boy who seems bound and determined to be obnoxious 24/7

2. The fact that a LYS was hosting a Noni Bag Workshop with the designer for $150 this weekend, thus making it impossible for me to attend, has now announced that it will be a FREE workshop. A little too late to rearrange DH's schedule tonight, my in-laws 60th Anniversary Party tomorrow, and soccer and hockey on Sunday. (I can't help myself, I like that Bobble Bag!)

3. My in-laws anniversary party - I still have nothing to wear. For that matter, neither does little boy.

4. To find something to wear before 7 p.m. tonight, I'd have to take four children with me. I went this morning with 2 - that was rough enough.

5. Yes, I should have thought about this last week, but I didn't.

6. I planned on making soup for dinner tonight. I have the broth, but have yet to do anything with the vegetables. I'm debating about making Kraft Macaroni and Cheese instead.

7. My feet are cold.

Good things:

1. My in-laws have been married for 60 years, have 6 children, and 12 grandchildren.

2. Last night we had a dinner for friends home from Africa. It's always good to spend time with friends.

3. My friend Terri really seemed to like the Oriel Lace Scarf.

4. The dinner was potluck style, and someone brought the BEST hummus. I licked the bowl.

5. I'm still making progress (albeit slow progress) on the Christmas knitting.

Hmmm... Annoyances 7, Good things 5 is not the final score I was looking for.

Browser Issues

I've tried to post a couple of times the past few days, and my browser(s) keep acting up. Grrr!

I'm knitting SLOWLY, when I should be knitting quickly. Christmas is totally on my mind, and there's a sense of urgency there. I have a lot of other random thoughts running around my mind, but can't seem to find the time or focus to post them. Hopefully, after this weekend, things will get calmer.

Tonight, we're hosting a dinner for missionary friends of ours who are home from Africa. They're only here for a month, and we're hoping to get some great quality time with them. But today, that means I'm cleaning and not knitting. I would rather be knitting. Cleaning has really gone downhill since the knitting started, you know?

I'm off to dust. Happy knitting!

Happy Halloween!

My little Trick-or-Treaters - Batman, a cowgirl, and a pirate. (The baby was a pumpkin.) I hope you all had a fun Halloween!



I haven't knit much in the last few days, which is all kinds of bad because Christmas is less than 2 months away! I did finish Big Boy's stocking, except for his name. I have to go back and duplicate stitch it on the top band. The pattern is from Annie's Woolens, and there are a whole series of them. Hopefully, by next Christmas, the whole family will have coordinating stockings.

I plan on starting the first of two hat and scarf sets for orphans in Estonia today at Little girl's soccer game (provided she has a soccer game - forecast says rain.)

Happy knitting!