Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real

{pretty}

Just outside our door...

{happy}

Evidence of a little boy enjoying reading on his own.


It's been just in the last few weeks that he's been making it his own and spending time curled up with a book.

{funny}

Oh, the pictures an almost four-year-old will take when you hand him a camera!

{real}

Still blank walls...

Go visit Like Mother Like Daughter for more Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real posts.

In Waiting

My mother-in- law was diagnosed with cancer recently and during some testing the doctors came across something they don't like to see.

There was a scan yesterday to determine whether or not the cancer has spread.

So now we are in waiting, praying.

It is so strange to think that one phone call will let us all breathe a little or crush us entirely.

So we will be taking it easy while we sort this out and perhaps seek new balance in future weeks.

Pray with us?

On My Mind

 

I hope your Easter day treated you well! For us it was a weekend full of worship and family. I played for all of the Saturday evening and Sunday morning services at church and I can hardly describe the experience accurately. We saw 20 people come to Christ in the Saturday services alone. It was truly a blessed evening.

I also spent some time with The Well-Trained Mind. I'm still forming thoughts on it, but we might go a little more structured next year and this might be part of that path. I'm sure I'll be back with more thoughts on this book soon. Do you have any thoughts on Susan Wise Bauer's model of classical education?

And last, is anyone interested in hearing about P90X? Brian and I just finished our first week and we didn't die like we thought we might after hearing such tales from, well... everyone. Everyone told us how they couldn't make it more than 3 days/1 week/whatever.

Just in case you think we're some kind of fitness buffs, don't. I won't be able to stop laughing for a month. I'm seriously out of shape. I'd like to lose 10-15 pounds, but mostly I want to have more endurance and get a little closer to the pre-baby belly I used to have. Brian exercised regularly before starting P90X, but still wants to lose some weight and and build muscle. There is a lot of heart disease on his side of the family and that is something he wants to combat early.

What have you been up to lately?

Bare Walls

This weekend I go hunting fabrics for the newly painted living room. I'm hoping to make our curtains and pillows before summer really gets here, but I'm also in search of a clock, and general decoration inspiration for this room.


I have ideas of what I'm going for- definitely something to break up the blue-grey, whites, springy greens or light blues, pale yellows...

Something big over the sewing desk (and maybe an inspiration board for me?)

**This photo is the best representation of the color**

Something hung to make the dining area feel a little more separate in our little space...

A collection? Fabric? A piece of art (perhaps childmade?)

And I think I've decided that this little wall will be our family photo wall,

which is why there are 10 framed photos sitting there in stacks.

All that is needed is a bit of time spent arranging and thinking before we hang them...

Yarn Love & Spinning Too!

The yarn fairy appeared yesterday with a box from knitpicks.  

I've never ordered there before, but I've had a cart open with different selections for awhile now with the intention to try out a few different things. The yarn fairy (aka that husband of mine) noticed and was nice enough to go ahead and order it as a bit of post-recital celebration.


The variety of solids above is all fingering weight, and mostly palette yarn, with the exception of the light blue Stroll sock yarn.

A little bit of laceweight, perhaps for Omelet...



And the scariest/most exciting bit, is a little bit of roving and a drop spindle! I'm excited to try something new this summer. Since I work about half of my usual schedule over the sumer I spend those months immersed in one hobby or another. This year will be spinning, hopefully including a class or two at a local store.

I'm hunting down spinning tutorials and information if you have any. I have the book  Respect the Spindle and also located Abby Franquemont's videos on Youtube, but I'd love more advice!

Abby Franquemont - Drop Spindle Basics

Abby Franquemont Spinning part 1

Abby Franquemont Spinning part 2

Almost Four

Oh, Ezra you crack us up.

You have the best smiles.

We call you Little Andy because you *are* Andy from Toy Story. Buzz Lightyear and Woody are your best pals and you carry them everywhere you go.

We rotate between your three Toy Story shirts as much as is reasonable.

And the "duck lips" that you used to make when you were sad and now you make them when you're being silly...


You have to make things every day, and sometimes you head straight to the art table the second your feet hit the floor in the morning and I come in to find you in the midst of a new creation.


Will you really be four this summer? Weren't you my little two-year-old just yesterday and my baby the day before? You snuggle up with me and pretend to be a baby for a few minutes before you are off again, becoming best pals with your big brother and saving the day superhero style.


And the newest thing is to want to be outside every second, no shoes, just out the door the moment we are awake. I have to hold you back first thing- we can't leave without your brother!- but you always sigh and say, "Okay. Right after breakfast," and then grin at me with your silly smile and snuggle into me again.

Um...

What do *you* think this fortune means?

Goodbye Pumpkin

Our living room has been pumpkin colored since 2002

And we're finally making a change.

But it's a little sad to watch it go.

I'm happier with the color on the wall than how it was on the card, which is always a good thing...

We're about 2/3 through the room with plans to finish by Friday. Then it's on to picking out fabrics for pillows and curtains, and artwork...

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter as our "something pretty, happy, funny and real" today.

Time Out

Last night after getting the boys to bed I knit for the first time in a week.


I quickly discovered that I would have to rip back about 15 rows on the March sock...


And my poor little heart couldn't take it so the March sock went into time-out while I jumped in on the April sock.

This is the toe of the On-Hold Socks by Wendy Johnson. I'm looking to feel even more comfortable with the lace on socks so I can be brave and try something bigger, like Omelet.


I'm back to reading some fiction after recent weeks immersed in non-fiction while planning for next year's homeschool. The Red Pyramid is my latest fiction read (going pretty fast!) and again through Ruth Beechick's The Three R's as I finish planning for first grade and K4.

*****

I'm knitting along with Ginny again this week. Visit her to read about more great knits!

Hosta Pasta

:: Deep breath ::

The recital is finished, and I get to collect myself this week. And my house. I have untold amounts of laundry to do... but after a quick pick up this morning I was pleasantly surprised to find that the house isn't as bad off as I had imagined. Just mountains and mountains of laundry.

I *was* surprised to see that spring has erupted around us. In this last week it has burst out everywhere and we had a great time on our walk this morning discovering the buds and little bits of spring evidence.

And this is the beginning of one of the hostas we transplanted last fall. Ezra was the first to spot it and he cried out, " A bud, a bud!"

I asked if he remembered planting the hosta plants last year and he looked at me wide eyed.

"A PASTA PLANT?!?!?!?"

*That* was a fun one to try to explain. He was completely and utterly convinced that we were going to picking fresh spaghetti every day this summer, and it took a *long* time to convince him otherwise.

Knitting Along

{Knitting along with Ginny again this week}

Ladies and gents, the March sock is so not done. I did get it knit up to the heel turn, but that is going to have to wait until I'm finished with the recital on Sunday. I'm teaching late every night, and then spending the rest of the evening trying to finalize the program, entering compositions into Finale, and taking care of the gazillions of details that go into planning a program with 52 participants and all their family and friends. So, March sock? Let's aim for April 15th. There's only about 6 more hours in that sock (maybe?) but it sadly has to wait.


And a question for you sock knitters- how many hours would it take you to finish a sock like this? A pretty average lace pattern, tiny cable on either side of the lace, stockinette otherwise, minimal ribbing at the top... It seems like I've been knitting this sock forever, but I really only have about 4 hours total in it aside from getting the toe started. Perhaps it's just second sock syndrome catching up to me...


I just finished reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and while I like to read non-fiction, this was very different. It almost felt like a novel in the way it was told and I couldn't put it down. I know that added to my unfinished sock (though I did read while I knit) but this story- heartbreaking in so many ways, elating in so many ways... you simply must read it. This may end up being the best book I'll read this year.

::Inspire::

We work all semester in the studio toward this one weekend, and now it's just a few days off...

 {Ezra folding laundry}

So there is extra time in the studio for me, more time for the boys with their aunt and grandparents and daddy too...

  

 {he takes it very seriously}

And the homeschooling conference is this weekend too...

  

 {Seriously, guys- he *loves* folding laundry- he didn't get that from me}

So I'll leave you with a little inspiration as I finish putting together composition books, finalizing and printing the programs, holding hands, rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing...

:: April's desktop image by Geninne

:: A sweet little baby hat tutorial

:: A free weekly gratitude journal from Ann Voskamp

:: Lesson plans that are inspiring our own for next year

:: Lots of art projects we plan to try over the next few weeks...

Spring Birds, Part II

We tried a second version of the Spring Birds this week, this time with oil pastels and watercolors. Above is Ender's orange bird, and below is Ezra's red one:

Ender recently started to keep his colors a little bit more separate to avoid the "preschool brown" that happens when all your paints mix together.

Ezra? Not so much yet, but his most frequently chosen colors are red and black, just like he picked here.