Balancing meals through plates...

I LOVE segmented plates. Love them. I have ever since I was serving my babies rice cereal and pureed vegetables. There's just something about them that lends itself to evening things out. Balancing them. Covering all bases. I always feel like a segmented dish forces me to come up with at least three different things to give my children to cover more food groups. (The sad lacking of fruit on this lunch plate is due to a very fruit intensive breakfast this morning!) The segmented plates make me think. They make me balance. And they work for me!

Totally free needlework...

Completely inspired after reading about Crystal's redwork project, I really wanted to get back into handwork. It had been years since I picked up needle and floss and indulged that part of myself! One afternoon, I started scavenging my house and came up with: a plain white muslin sheet, a skein of deep red floss, my embroidery hoop, and a needle. A quick web search yielded a cute pattern by Barbara Parrish.

I'm very pleased with the result! More than that, I am utterly delighted to have spent no money out of pocket and been able to enjoy several quiet evenings of stitching and talking with my husband. He loved watching me work and, though he insisted on calling it "Redline", thought it was a wonderful project. He has now asked me to complete one for his mother, a project I will be happily beginning later today.

My first redwork (or redline, for my hubby) project-- my apologies that I hadn't pressed it yet in this photo-- appears above. I am so thankful to have rediscovered this hobby... and to have been able to do so for free!

Edited to add link to pattern.

His feathered friend...

Wordless Wednesday.

Lingerie Straps

It's Frugal Friday over at Crystal's Biblical Womanhood.

I find that I'm always trying to come up with cute, crafty ideas to do with my 2 and 3 yr olds. Happily, I don't really have a shortage of ideas (and there's a wealth of them available to me online!), but it's some of these ideas aren't cheap. Buying craft supplies can easily become an expensive venture. I'm especially guilty of spending money on pretty, satiny ribbon.

The other day I realized something. I wear a lot of those camisole-style tank tops for layering. For some odd reason, most of them seem to have satin ribbon hanging loops inside. Now, I don't really know anyone who hangs up this type of top, but who knows? Since I do not, I find those loops to be an endless source of annoyance that I just have to keep tucking in. So I attacked them with my manicure scissors! I walked away with a pile of 12" or so ribbon lengths that are perfect for little projects, like this pasta cross that my son is proudly displaying.

My kids don't care where the ribbon comes from. I don't spend any money. I'm no longer irritated by those loops! win-win-win.

7 Random/Weird Things About Me!

I've been tagged by Candace to list seven random and/or weird things about myself.

Here goes...

1. I gave birth to two babies in 2005, but they're not twins.

2. Everyone in my family is tall with tiny feet.

3. I was third in my graduating class... and the top ten was ALL girls!

4. I can eat embarrassingly huge quantities of pizza... seriously.

5. I really don't like being outside. At all. And I really, really wish that I did.

6. I always have my toenails polished. Always.

7. I think I just finally figured out how to do a link in a blog... how sad is THAT? Ha!

I am going to have to ponder who to tag... since this blog is so new and I'M so new to blogging and the etiquette involved, I would hate to "bother" someone who doesn't really even know who I am. But I'll work on that! Thanks, Candace, for thinking of me!

A few thougts on... curtains.

As Spring is (very slowly) making its way into central Indiana, I've been able to throw open my windows more and more. I LOVE that feeling! A side benefit has been the new realization of the joy my curtains bring me... here are a few things that never fail to make me smile...

-- the way the early morning light filters through my lace curtains in the master bedroom... I am ever-delighted to see these sunny patterns on the wall as I wake.

-- the way my son's white linen tabbed valances always look so clean and crisp... there is something so timeless and fresh about crisp linen.

-- the way my sheers billow in the breeze! I have sheers here in my office and I have smiled all day watching them fill with the gusts of air that come through my window.

-- the tiny touch of fussiness in the Battenburg Lace curtains that hang in my other-wise clean-lined and basic blue and white bath.

So there you go! I could wax on and on about my simple pleasures in window treatments... but for now, I'm off to wake my daughter from a nap... and check out her butterfly curtains while I'm there!

Unity in Faith

As any parent who has had a baby in a NICU knows, there are a lot of heartbreaking situations there. Sadly, too many babies are there because of poor decisions during a pregnancy and these mothers often do not visit their babies. The whole thing can really break you down if you let it. On the other end of the spectrum, however, are some of the most dedicated, loving, faithful parents you'd ever want to meet. And that's who I want to talk about right now...

When our little girl was born four months early, at barely 24 weeks gestation, our world crumbled a little. With a ten-month old son already, we were torn and challenged. We cried a little. We raged a little. We prayed a lot. And we joined forces more than we had ever had to previously in our marriage.

We were not allowed to touch our daughter. She was too fragile. We were advised to speak softly, that she was aware of our presence and it was important. I spent many hours beside her isolette, crocheting tiny blankets and hats and singing hymns I have been singing since I was a tiny girl in the Catholic church.

We had such a lengthy hospital stay, it was inevitable that we would get to know other parents who also seemed to have made the NICU their second home. I would smile when I saw the Baptist father of another tiny preemie playing the guitar softly by her bedside. I looked forward to the gentle sounds of the flute played by a kind Mennonite father as they waited for news about his baby daughter's heart defect.

One day, one of the other little girls was having a very bad day. A bad day in the NICU world is not like a bad day in a typical home. A bad day at the NICU means your baby probably won't make it. The air was so thick, it was hard to breathe.

Though we had only known each other on a casual basis, somehow these two men and I all ended up by Kaylynn's bedside. And, despite our differing faiths, somehow we all knew one hymn in common. As we stared at the blinking numbers on this tiny child's monitor, Joe and Jeremiah started playing. I started singing. "Like a Shepherd" rang out in that NICU module. Doctors and nurses fought valiantly. And Kaylynn fought too. We saw that little girl claw her way back from the brink until her numbers were stable. The joy was overwhelming.

I saw one of the nurses, standing off to the side, looking dazed. I asked her is she was OK and she replied, "You know, it's easy to lose faith. To question the fairness of losing little babies. But then, when you FEEL God in the room like that. Actually FEEL his hands reach down to this child, you wonder how you could ever doubt."

I feel so blessed to have shared that moment with those two faithful fathers. I am so thankful that we found unity together and didn't see reason to nit-pick the parts of our beliefs that differ. I am so thankful for God's presence and his miraculous works in that NICU. All three of our daughters are home now. And thriving in their own ways.

Overcoming resentment...

Let me start here- I know I'm lucky. Lucky to have a strong husband who stands beside me. Lucky to have two beautiful children. Lucky, even, to have good, healthy genes. I do not forget any of these things. However...

I am continually hurt by the comments made by several women in my life. Comments about how "lucky I am that I don't 'have to work'" Comments about how it "must be nice to stay home all day". Comments about how it "must be nice" to have the TIME to read, bake, pray, etc.

I am lucky. Lucky that my husband and I share like views and priorities. Lucky that we are both willing to make the type of commitment and sacrifices necessary to enable our home to run the way that it does. Lucky that I can rest easy each night knowing that I truly feel that I am doing the very best I can for my family as wife and mother with where I'm at in my journey. And, yes, lucky that I DO take the time to pray so that I may continue to grow in this role and evolve into a stronger example of wife and mother.

I cannot avoid these comments as they come from my husbands' sisters. I've tried to ignore them or even to handle it with humor (i.e. "yep, it's a nice life, sitting around eating bon-bons all day!"). But I"m left feeling bitter. And hurt. And insulted. I struggle to take comfort in the knowledge that I am pleasing my husband and serving my family. More, I am pleasing myself! But I pray for guidance in letting go of my resentment. I wish I knew how other women did it, for I know I am not the only one who receives these unsolicited comments...

I am SUCH a girl... is that bad?

As I slicked on my new rose lipstick this morning (free, thanks to CVS... oh happy day!), my husband reminded me he'd be taking my car in today to get new tires. I don't think it ever even occurred to either one of us that I could take it in... he just always handles the "vehicle stuff". Kind of like he always takes the garbage out. Meanwhile, I always do the laundry. I always bake the cookies. And so it goes...

I don't really think either one of has real "gender stereotypes" in this house. And that makes me wonder if we're too "stuck in our ways". Or is it more to the point that if it ain't broke, don't fix it? I've been fascinated lately to read many other blogs with varying viewpoints on women's roles. I think that's what has gotten my wheels turning...

Turning my black thumb green...

I am KNOWN for my black thumb. My family teases me about it. I don't even GLANCE at the beautiful potted plants at stores. I've resigned myself to not attempting to keep anything but my children and cat alive! It's not that I don't like plants. I really do. Especially the indoor variety that doesn't involve much in the way of insect encounters. My track record is just horrible.

But I've set out to change that. Several weeks ago, I planted herb seeds in little plastic cups and lined them on my kitchen window sill. I have dutifully watered them and every day I look for signs of growth. I have been rewarded with tender green sprouts of basil, parsley, and chives poking through the soil. I cannot begin to express the simple joy this brings me!

Now that I've had just a tad of success, I'm ready to move on. I've requested a tomato plant for Mother's Day. The idea of a gift that will bring such pure joy, will save money for my family, and will help me have some quality control over our food sounds like just the ticket!

Wish me luck... I still worry my thumb could turn black again at any point...

A home-baked morning

My kitchen faces west, making it the darkest room of my home in the morning. Nonetheless, there is little I enjoy more than donning my apron and pulling out baking supplies every Tuesday and Thursday morning as my 3-yr old joins me. He eats his breakfast before heading off to preschool and keeps up a steady conversation while I knead and mix and measure... Daddy and the 2-yr old keep snoozing, and I cherish this time with my son. When I'm pressed for time, I often just bake up some quick beer bread and call it a day. The scent of fresh bread baking fills the home and reminds me to cherish the little things.

When my husband heads off to work and kisses me goodbye, I am proud to stand in my ruffled blue apron, with flour on my hands and my hair in a ponytail. I know that the man I married understands what it means to be Deliciously Domestic. And I have many women as my mentors and I continue to grow on my path...