Bittersweet

There are many emotions that surround moving to a new house.

I feel excitement for the blessed opportunity to build a home to accommodate our family's needs and also provide a space for my mom to be integrated ever so closely into our family-life. When I think of this becoming closer-than-ever to a reality, I can't help but imagine all that the future holds. And I am excited! Excited for the ways my children will have such a special bond with their grandma. Excited for a blessed time to share with my mom (under the same roof again!). So many things to look forward to ... Yes, excitement is definitely something I've been feeling a lot lately.

I have felt stressed-out, too, as we put our house on the market, cleaned for showings, negotiated offers, packed up our precious belongings, worked like crazy, searched for house plans, and figured out financing. It has been an emotionally, physically and mentally exhausting nine months. It has been stressful, indeed.

And I am sad, too. Sad for what we are saying goodbye to this week—A wonderful house that has been our home for almost five years. A house we thought we'd be in for much, much longer. A quiet street to live on, a preschool practically in our backyard, a nice playground to visit, stores we're familiar with, a sense of comfort. I am especially sad to say goodbye to really, really, really good neighbors. People who have supported us, helped us, and shared life's ups and downs with us. Neighbors who were life-savers during our transition with twins, who remembered to take our garbage to the curb when we were too sleep-deprived to remember ourselves. Neighbors who we could trust completely with our children. Neighbor friends our children have grown up with thus far, doing all the fun things kids do together: bike riding, games, ice cream, s'mores and more. I cannot help but feel sad to say goodbye to such good people.

I do pray that our friendship has grown beyond property lines and street names to one that will remain intact. Although it will be different now, I pray it will continue, somehow, in some fashion, into the future. One thing that gives me hope is our shared Faith. Faith is something that unites people no matter how close or far we live to one another. (And scrapbooking. Scrapbooking can really unite folks, too, especially women folk =)

And so, this week, this move is indeed bittersweet. I have so much to look forward to, but I shed tears for what I will miss. Thank you, neighbors, for your friendship these years. May the Lord always keep us close through Him.

Candlemas Dessert

Just popping in to share this light dessert that would be so cute for Candlemas (Tuesday, Feb. 2). I originally found it in the December/January issue of Family Fun, and thought instantly of the February feast day. But I'm really surprised that I actually remembered it in time to purchase the ingredients before Tuesday ~ LOL!

OK, back to packing ...

The Simple Woman's Daybook—Moving Edition

For today ... Monday, January, 25, 2010

Outside my window ... Mid 20s with a chance of snow. It's been overcast for several days but warmer than normal. After today, though, it's supposed to get cold. Very cold. Just in time for moving.

I am thinking ... about moving this Saturday. We are in really good shape—packing wise—but there are still plenty of things to finish up. It is hard to think beyond sorting, packing and cleaning to what life will be like next week ... when it's all done (at least for 6-8 months while we wait for our new house to be built). I just can't think beyond what I'm in the midst of right now! It takes too much mental energy that I simply don't have right now! Ahh!

I am thankful for ... family and friends who have been so willing to watch the kids so that my husband and I can focus on the work that needs to get done. Some friends of mine took care of the four youngest all day on Friday, in addition to their three little ones. It was amazing what I was able to accomplish while alone for six hours! (Thank you, Bob and Rosanna!)

From the kitchen ... simple is the main ingredient this week.

I am listening to ... silence (currently). But in the van, we're still listening to Josh Groban's Noel CD, particularly The Little Drummer Boy. My two-year-old son requests it and sings it over ... and over ... and over again. While his singing is adorable, I'm ready to pack the CD away for another year. I need new music. Any suggestions? I received two iTunes gift cards for Christmas, so I'm ready to shop! What are some of your favorite downloads—music or audio books or both? I'd love to know what you'd recommend =)

I am reading ... A Homemade Life and The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Both contain recipes and stories—a fun format, I think. But I don't have a lot of time for reading these days, so they are slow going. I'll probably have to renew A Homemade Life before I finish it ...

I am hoping ... to finish enough packing by Thursday so that I can slip away for two hours and go to a knitting workshop at the yarn store by my house. (A girl can dream, can't she?)

I am creating ... a blue-green scarf for my preschooler. I have learned a lesson during this project: knitting a stockinette-stitched scarf is going to result in curling, even with a little garter-stitch border. For awhile, the perfectionist in me was debating whether to start over for the fourth time. But my more common-sense side decided that my little four-year-old girl is not going to know that it's not supposed to curl. And then I got some advice that confirmed this: when you are a preschool aged girl - you love things that curl. all things should curl/have glitter/be pink or purple/be over the top. This little piece of advice really helped me let go of the last bit of perfectionist thinking that was hanging on ... Thanks again, Christine, for this reality check!

Around the house ... it's a mess! Boxes and bins are everywhere! What's not in a box or bin is in one of several piles to be sorted. I have a TON of laundry to do, too.

One of my favorite things ... Ho-Ho Mint Mochas from Caribou Coffee. A holiday favorite that I just can't seem to give up yet. It's basically a white chocolate mint mocha with whipped cream and candy cane bits on top. Of course, I order it with skim milk, as if that matters after all the sweet, creamy goodness that this heavenly drink contains! LOL

A few plans for the rest of the week ...

+ no school for my older girls today

+ packing

+ cleaning

+ moving

A picture-thought ...

Not very pretty photos, but I just wanted to share how well these vacuum bags work. Purchased at Target, my DH and I used these bags to pack our linen closet—multiple comforters, sheet sets, towels, a bath rug, blankets, shower curtains, table linens, throw pillows, etc. We used about 5 bags of various sizes. And we were able to get all of the vacuumed bags into two boxes. Our entire linen closet in two boxes! And they're not just for moving either. If you are tight on space, you could use these to store extra linens that you're not using but want to save (like special baby things). I bet they would work well for packing for a trip, too ...

I might not be back here much this week, so please say a little prayer that all goes well this last week before we move ... and that the move goes well, too. Our closing isn't until next week, but of course, prayers for that as well! Thank you, thank you! Have a wonderful week, and God bless you.

For more daybooks, visit here.

Virtual March for Life

Have you heard of this? It's really cool, so I thought I'd share ...

Simply click here, which will take you to a Web site that is sponsoring a Virtual March for Life, for those of us who can't go to Washington, D.C. and march for real, but want to show our support.

You will create an avatar (an online you), and your avatar will march in the virtual march for life. You can even see where "you" are in the march.

More than 39,000 virtual marchers have already signed up!

Check it out!

Making Progress

Bags to donate: 10

Bags thrown away: 12+

An overflowing recycling bin: 1

For two weeks in a row, we have refilled our garbage bin by the very next day after the trash has been picked up. The same thing happened last week with our recycling bin. (And our recycling is only picked up biweekly! Ugh!) We need two or three bins during this moving process ... or a dumpster—LOL.

It feels good to purge our house, though. To sort through things. To pack up only what we want in our new home. To donate gently-used (and -worn) items to various charities in the area. I often want to do this but usually don't have time to do a really thorough job. Moving forces me to do it. And that's a good thing.

The garage is mostly done. That was probably the hardest space to sort and pack. Tools, outdoor toys, other odd-shaped items. My husband said that by the end of his work sessions, the pop in his can was frozen. Cold, huh?

The basement is mostly done, too. Everything from our storeroom has been sorted and packed up. It is completely empty for the first time in five years. But there are (organized) piles all over our basement: to storage, to the rental, to donate. Oh, and I can't forget the in-process-of-being-packed-but-can-be-added-to pile.

It looks like a mess all over our house, but we really are making progress.

I keep thinking, We're moving at the end of January. And to me, the end of January seems far away. Then, today, my oldest daughter informed me that we're moving in 12 days. Twelve days does not seem far away. I think we'll be OK. I'm not that stressed. But there's still a lot of work to do before January 30 ... Oh boy!

Grandpas

We haven't been out much lately. It's been a bit too cold to be bundling up kids and toddlers to run in and out of stores or other places. But last week was warmer—high 20s, low 30s, a real heat wave in this part of the USA. Especially for January. So, one day, we ran to SuperTarget, which gives out free cookies, and to the library.

Normally, when I go to the library with my twins, I go just to pick up the books I have on hold. In and out. I wait to bring the older girls there, to spend time browsing, when we can leave the two two-year-olds at home. But on this particular trip, we lingered just a bit, because we ran into a friend from church and her three daughters.

God's timing is always wonderful, I think. If I hadn't gone out that day or I hadn't run into my friend, I wouldn't have been blessed with two wonderful encounters with grandpas. Both within five minutes of one another.

My own grandpa died when I was only three years old. I have one memory of him, and I cherish it, along with several photos. I never had the opportunity to meet my other grandpa. Since I didn't have the opportunity to cultivate my own grandfather-granddaughter relationships, grandpas have always had a very special place in my heart. I am very fond of grandpas. Perhaps my notion of grandfathers is a bit idealistic, like a Hallmark movie. But maybe not, in light of my recent encounters with these two grandpas.

Encounter #1: For anyone who has several children, you've probably heard, and are tired of hearing, "Boy, do you have your hands full" spoken to you every time you go out in public. It's like stating the obvious, but not in a positive way. I've also had worse said to me, like "You're crazy" and "Why?" But every time the "hands full" statement is spoken to me by a complete stranger, I smile and try to respond in the most upbeat way possible. As far as the other two comments, I think I just smiled ... speechlessly.

Well, as we were walking out of the library, this grandpa was walking right behind us, smiling, as he watched me and my kids. I looked back at him and returned the smile. And then he said one of the sweetest comments about my family: "What a great collection of little people you have there." Wow! He completely won my heart! After I thanked him, he waited for me to pack everyone into my van and get them buckled in. Then, he asked if he could help me put my double stroller in the back of my van. I didn't really need help, but he was just so kind that I said, "Sure." I showed him that it folded up, and he was most impressed. He helped me lift it into the back. Then, I told him to have a good day, and we parted ways. He never stopped smiling.

Encounter #2: I still had one more child to buckle in and also had to pass books back to the kids to look at on our drive home, when another grandpa pulled up next to me. This time, as I was pulling out, he motioned for me to roll down my window. And he asked me for help. He was afraid he was going to fall, so he needed me to help him turn around and get to flat ground. You see, in the north where it snows a lot, the snow plows don't always get all the snow and ice off the streets and parking lots. Solid chunks of slippery, salty masses are left. They melt and refreeze over and over again. This grandpa had parked right by a very uneven piece of ground. So, he was rather stuck. I asked him exactly what he needed me to do, and he simply said, "If I could just hold on to you until I can get to the sidewalk." No problem. I was so honored to be available to him. I helped him turn around and walk away from the uneven terrain. As we were walking arm-in-arm, he held his cane and his library book to return in a Christmas gift bag in his other hand. And he told me that it gets hard when you get old. "And I'm only 94," he said cheerfully. His brother is 96 and his sister is 89, in case you were wondering =) Once he got to the dry, flat sidewalk, he thanked me, we parted, and I told him to have a wonderful day.

As I drove away, I couldn't help but think of my own grandpas. The one I barely knew and the one I never knew. And I thanked God for these little encounters that left me grateful on so many levels ... and that naturally increased my fondness for grandpas.

Craft Basket Wednesday

My craft basket isn't too exciting these days. I still have one more dishcloth on some size 6 needles. But my preschooler has been patiently waiting for her scarf, which has been on hold for a couple months, and so I've picked that up again. I wasn't very far along, when she informed me that she wanted a skinnier scarf. How does she know these things? I told her that she might have to wait a little longer, if I started over. But that was OK with her.

I am knitting just a simple stockinette stitch with a little garter stitch border. Nothing fancy, but this variegated yarn adds interest and dimension on it's own, I think. It'll go really nicely with her new brown jacket with blueish snowflakes all over it!

Also in my craft basket is a pink scarf that I finished several months ago. I just have to sew in the loose ends, which currently is my least favorite part about knitting, which is probably why it's still not finished. When my seven-year-old spotted it, though, she was so excited, that I promised to finish is very soon. So, I better stick to my word, and just do it!

(This scarf is similar to the purple one I made here, except I made the stripes in the middle part of the pattern thicker. This pattern came from the class I took at the needle-arts shop by my house. I think it was a good pattern to learn the basics, as well as a variety of stitches and how to change colors.)

This leads me to a little impromptu poll for anyone out there who is a more-advanced knitter than me (this doesn't take much, since I'm such a newbie =) What should I do next? What would be a good project for me to try? I know the basics, and I am eagerly willing to learn and try something new! I'd love to hear your ideas ...

Craft Basket Wednesday is sponsored by Knit Together.

Frosty

We woke up to a picturesque landscape this morning. Everything was miraculously painted with beautiful frost. It looked like an Ansel Adams photograph outside, but it was that much more incredible, because it was real life. On the way to school, the kids and I talked about how it was like God, in the middle of the night, took a tiny paintbrush and painted everything with white frost. To look like feathers, my kindergirl added. So lovely. Also on the way to school, the radio announcer was encouraging her listeners to get outside and take some pictures of God's amazing creativity, before the sunshine melted it all away. And so, I took her advice ... I'm certainly not a good photographer, but having this blog has encouraged me to appreciate, and capture, the everyday blessings that surround me.

It's a wonderful coincidence that the theme in our Little Saints preschool this week is Winter Fun. Yesterday, my four-year-old and I talked about snowflakes and how no two are alike. Isn't God amazing?! Then, we made some with glitter and all ... and hung them up for all to enjoy. After yesterday's snowflake discussion and today's frosty car-ride talk, perhaps some seeds were planted in her little mind about the beauty of God's creation, even in winter. Because those seeds sure were replanted, or perhaps maybe they sprouted a bit more, in my mind these past few days. We can never get too old to grow in our ability to wonder at and be in awe of God's amazing creation. Even in the cold, snowy winter, which is really quite lovely when I stop and reflect upon it, God has His creative hand upon it all.

Bless the Lord, ice and cold ... frosts and snows, sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever ... ~Daniel 3:69-70

Until Next Year ...

... or Until the End of This Year. I wasn't sure if there was a correct of saying it, since we're technically already in the new year. But however you look at it, I think you know what I mean. The Christmas season officially ends today, and therefore this is my last Christmas post until ... next time.

Subtitle: Capturing Our Christmas ~ 2009

Trimming the tree

(with fun effects from our camera that my husband somehow figured out how to do. He's so cool!)

Baking cookies

(including gingerbread boys, frosted cut-outs, peppermint meltaways, chocolate truffles and peppermint bark—not all are pictured)

At Christmas Mass ~ on Christmas Eve

Double the cuteness

(Horsing around, literally, with their sister's new "stick horse." A wonderful way to spend $6!)

Opening presents

(This girl loves Paris. It's just so fancy to her! She and her grandma have "matching" Eiffel Tower shirts, so this was such a perfect ornament for her from Gram!)

(My kindergirl insisted on a purple bow for this package for Daddy. I didn't have Christmas paper to match a purple bow, so the Trio thought it would be fun to wrap it with a Vikings theme. The gift had nothing to do with football. It was white socks, which were very much needed.)

Christmas snow

(that paused just long enough for my mom to fly here on Christmas Eve day from Florida. The snow was heavy the evening of Dec. 23, and we were a bit nervous and prayed a lot for a little lull in the storm, just long enough for her to get here ... We woke up the morning of the 24th, and our prayers were answered! There was a lull! She arrived around 2ish. Within minutes of us getting home from the airport, the snow started falling again and didn't stop until Saturday the 26th!)

Las Posadas

(a Christmas party in our neighborhood with this theme. So much fun! We read this book and then each child—17 in all—carried a figurine from the nativity or a candle. Two kids played the parts of Joseph and Mary. We walked to three different neighbors—who knew we were coming—singing Christmas carols along the way, and asked for a place for Joseph and Mary to stay. No room, they answered. At the fourth house, our neighbor who was hosting warmly welcomed us in. We sang carols and ate a Mexican dinner. Oh, and those neighbors who said "no" joined us, too =)

Christmas at Plum Creek

Somehow a theme emerged from various Christmas presents received by our family: Christmas at Plum Creek.

It actually started this summer when my preschooler received a bonnet for her birthday from my SIL's family, after they took a trip to Walnut Grove. Then, my oldest got a bonnet for her birthday in November. This was right around the time we started reading-aloud Little House in the Big Woods.

We put season #1 of the TV series on our Christmas wish list. (And got it.) But this was done without knowing what my MIL had planned for her granddaughters.

She asked a friend of hers to make each girl (6 in all) a Little House on the Prairie dress, apron and bonnet. My teenaged niece received a fancy, velvety bonnet. And then to my MIL's surprise, her friend made a patchwork bonnet—out of fabric remnants from each of the girls' dresses/bonnets—for her.

To top it off, my 5-year-old, received another bonnet from Walnut Grove and The Little House Cookbook. You know, for the next time we make stewed jack rabbit. No, really, in all seriousness, it is a really neat book, with some history and stories sprinkled throughout. And we do plan on trying some of the other more-accessible recipes, like desserts, breads and maybe Strawberry Jam =)

(She couldn't wait to be done posing for her cookbook photo, so she could really ham it up! That's my girl =)

We have had weeks of Little House play around here. It's amazing that when they're in character, they do their chores so much better. Hmmm ... The girls even wore their dresses to Mass on the 27th of December, because, well, they just love them so much.

I am grateful that this theme unexpectedly erupted this Christmas. I love that my girls and their cousins find joy and interest in something so wholesome and pure. It teaches them about a time when life was harder, but also simpler. When little things meant so much. When people probably went without but were abundantly more grateful for what they did have. Good fun and good lessons all wrapped up together. What a wonderful Christmas gift!

Busy Bee

You may or may not remember this post, where I began my quilting voyage. I didn't get very far last summer. But I was OK with that. I figured the project would be an ongoing journey, a work-in-progress, because, well, it could be.

My mom had other plans in mind, though. Plans I knew nothing about ... Let's just say she was a very busy bee this fall/winter.

What could be in this big, red box?

Ta-da! A beautiful, scrappin' quilt made out of (Grandpa) Russ' favorite plaid shirts! From Mom/Gram to all of us!

(A scrappin' quilt is when you simply take the quilt squares and lay them down, with no rhyme or reason or pattern. You only change them around when there are two of the same next to one another.)

She actually made four quilts in all—one for us, one for Russ' daughter, one for Russ' son and one for herself. See, I told you she was a busy bee!

A cozy, cowboy-print flannel covers the back of the quilt.

Because Russ was a cowboy at heart =)

On two of the corners, shirt pockets with buttons were kept intact. Too cute!

A little toddler boy's chubby feet. How could I refuse to post this photo?!

Thank you, Mom/Gram! We love you! And we love our special quilt!

(But I guess I'll have to pick up my quilting adventure somewhere else =)