Intentional Tuesday

I am going to make a regular post for Intentional Tuesday. Maybe I will get crafty and create a button for the blog...but for now, I just intent to be intentional. 

I have recently gotten back from the big party.  I've been there before.  Maybe you have too. Which one, you ask?  Were you invited, you say?  It was the big pity party, and yes, if you were around me, you were invited to join.  Sorry to those who have been a part of the festivities.  Really.

But I am no longer there.  I am here.  Here where I have been many, many times before.  Here where I say that I am making some changes in my life.  But today there is a huge difference.  Huge.

You see, in the past, when I say I am going to make changes I may say one or two out loud to people and I may write down a few, but that is not what I really mean.  What I really mean is that I am not changing one, or even a few, things.  I mean that I must change everything about who I am...right now, today.   From this day forth I will be completely different in all the ways that matter.  I will pray more, read my Bible more, eat less, eat better, be better to my husband, be a better mom, be a better friend, be a better teacher, exercise, get up early, clean the house daily, like a champ, journal, craft, blog....  You get the picture.

Not this time.  Nope.  This time I am going to be intentional about one thing.  I am going to read my Bible and I am going to pray...every day.

I spoke to a friend tonight that I have not spoken to in a few years.  She is one of the most wonderful people I know, and a true friend. You know, the kind that can tell you like it is with great love and you can hear it.  She encouraged me to just do the one thing.  Read and Pray daily.  There was a whole lot more to the conversation, but the point is that I don't have to change everything all at once.  I don't have to change any of it at all.    In fact, I can't.   I can't.   The only one who can is Jesus.  He will do the changing little by little.  From glory to glory for his sake.  I am only making a choice to be willing to do the one thing and to be honest.

How is this for honesty?  Truth is...I lost my Bible...a long time ago.  Well I was not the one who lost it, but it got lost. (He will say otherwise-but he is telling fibs if he does.)  And so I do not have one.  There is one (or maybe two) around here somewhere, though.  I will find one and use it.      One more thing...I really have no hunger for the word.  But I have a desire for a hunger, and I will be praying that it will be answered.  And I know it will.

I have been a believer for most of my life.  I know the things that I have written are not new ideas nor are they new to me or even, in part, to this blog.  I have been told these things by people who love me and whom I love.  I have chosen not to live intentionally up until now.  But tonight it is real and it is alive in me.   I cannot do it in my own strength.  I need to pray and believe that God can do all things.  I know God is real and I know he loves me.  I also know that I cannot stay, I cannot live, where I have been living. 

Intentional Tuesday #1:  Read my (or any) Bible and Pray.     No more tomorrows.  Only one thing.  Just the one thing.  Join me?

Wish Granted!

I am doing the no school dance (since they called it off tonight instead of waiting for tomorrow morning) and getting ready to watch Emma since I have no NEED to go to bed.  We have no school and we HAVE power in spite of snow and a little ice.  I love snow days!  Yippee!!

 

Our little snowman got a bit more snow.  If you look back at the post where he was pictured for the first time you can see that he has about a foot of drifted snow all around his bottom half.  

It looks like something is looking at me from the porch with glowing eyes...do you see it.  I was almost wigged out,  but then I remembered that Glen's tennis shoes are on the porch and my flash was hitting the reflectors.  Whew!! 

On to Emma...Don't you just love Masterpiece Theater!? Thanks PBS on line and my dear friend Amy for telling me I could see it that way.  I am happy not to have cable, but some things I really don't want to miss.  Glad to have friends in the know.  Emma, here I come.

Coming Soon

I have a list of project to accomplish.  I will give you a few sneak peeks of some befores.  I am even thinking of possibly showing you my pit of a craft room.  Don't hold your breath on that one though.  I am too ashamed of the mess right now.  I know everyone's craft room is a mess at times...but you have NO IDEA.  Maybe if I play it so much as a horror, then you will say it's not so bad IF you see it.  But then again you may say, "Whew!  She wasn't joking about the pit." I'm stil thinking.  But the craft room is a biggie I am working on.  

I will show you one project I am pretty excited about.

 

Here is Lylah's big girl bed.  

 

Here is a close up of the headboard.

I saw it at an antique mall in town and mentioned to Glen's parents that I thought this might just be the bed I was looking for.  They said they would help us out with it, but then Grandpa changed his mind and bought it for us.  You will have to see the previous post about Lylah and the grandparents.  She would have the world if our parents could somehow get it for her.  We are very thankful.  It will be so pretty.  

I could not get a really good picture because it's very late and we have only "mood lighting" around here (and my flash is crazy).  But if I had a better picture to show you, you would see that the finish is not so stellar and is a little streaked and glopy.  But the bed is VERY solid and very sturdy with wooden side rails, high headboard, and low footboard.  I love the carving and I think it will be darling in white..or maybe pink or yellow.  I will say white will win, but you never can tell.

So there you have the before pictures.  The after pictures will include fun sheets, mommy-made bed spread and pillows, and a grown up preschool bedroom with a retro feel.  My goal is to have it done by her birthday.  She is fine in the crib, but by three she should be in a big bed, I guess.  

It will be fun and I am dreaming of her new space every waking moment.  I am obsessed.  Can't help it.

Now I feel like I better make a list and sketch some stuff.  If the mood strikes, I gotta go with it. 

Light Dusting of Snow...

Friday's forecast said a light dusting of snow was expected.  After about an hour of sleet and big snow flakes and then almost white-out conditions and a lot of snow accumulation, the forecast was changed...Winter Weather Advisory.  School was called off early for the day and the roads were slick. I drove a lot in them.  Skidded right past the entrance to work in slow motion.    But the snow was BEAUTIFUL.  It was fluffy and covered everything like a cotton batting.  By the time I got home, the temp was rising and the 5 to 6 inches of snow on the ground was perfect for snowman building.

  We live on a very busy street and they plow it well, eventually, but they always plow our driveway closed.  Since we drive  a car with no ground clearance and cannot power over the mountain of snow, there is no way to get in unless I shovel the snow wall away. (Lylah helped do the top of the drive with a spoon.  Very excited to be so grown up.)

After I shoveled the drive so I could pull the car in, we made a snowman.

 

He had shrub clippings for hair, Lylah's broken sunglasses for eyes, a carrot nose(of course), and a stylish scarf ( tied on the way Oprah told us all to do)

 

I stuck the nose in and she got a nibble (2 really) stinker!

 

She shook its hand

 

She kissed it.

 

She stood by it for 1/4 second

 

She finally chose to allow the frozen strawberries we brought outside for the mouth to be placed on the snowman.

 

Then she thought she better eat the berries instead.

This is how the snowman looked on Saturday.  A little bit tired.

I wish I had pictures of all the snowmen around town.  There seemed to be one in every other yard.

We are now getting ready for a snow and ice storm to begin late tonight and get worse as the day goes on tomorrow.  I am hoping for it to be bad enough to call off school on Monday but not bad enough to loose power.  

Fingers crossed!!

Beautiful Fairy Princess

We now live with a beautiful fairy princess. Lylah has been obsessed  with my make up and always wants to try a little.  She has also been delighted in nail polish.  We knew she would love a little make up kit of her own.  The other night I found one.  A Barbie make up kit with a huge amount of little girl beautification enhancers.  She was so thrilled to get it.  The lady at the check out said, "Have a good night," and Lylah said, "oh, I will. Thank you."  She thanked me about 100 times on the drive home too.  She tried it out as soon as we walked in the door.

There were hair pieces with beads, 4 little bottles of glitter glue posing as nail polish, tiny purple and orange lipsticks, glittery fragrances, eye shadows, lip glosses, stick on ear rings, stick on nails, 2 hair clips, 2 bracelets, a pink star ring, and the best thing ever, a pink necklace with a heart locket.  All of it smelled like an old lady and she was IN LOVE with it all.  She wore it all at once that first night and has played with it carefully and faithfully every waking moment since.

She said she would be married now because she had a ring.

She said she was a beautiful princess.

She has demonstrated how she can put the nail polish on all by herself and then blows on her hands and feet.  She has applied it about 400 times.

She can put the lovelies on Daddy and he is beautiful too. She even offered to let daddy wear the hair pieces and purple sparkle body glitter for work.  He told her that he was not allowed to look so beautiful at work.  She was happy enough for Daddy to be beautiful at home.  Good Daddy. 

Her lipstick application is a sight.  Her top lip only gets the color.  It is applied from the lip all the way up to the nose and then across the face to about mid-cheek. 

It's "real nice". 

Here is a picture of my Pretty Princess in her fist moments of glory. 

 

better shot of her purple glitter cheek and sitting with Daddy

 

Her make up is waiting for her even now.  She has placed it in a very special and safe spot on the door knob of her closet door.  I am sure she will go for it first thing tomorrow morning.  "Don't you just love to be beautiful in glitter, Mommy?"

 

 Notice the hint of eye shadow on her forehead and the shimmer around her cheeks?  You can't miss the joy on her face.  Love it.

Crazy Baker

Today Lylah got to go over to Grammy and Papa Jones' house for the night while Glen and I went out on a real date.  She was so excited over the prospect of going to their house that she was a silly thing all morning.  All of Glen's family (pretty much) have birthdays clustered in the Winter months, so we have been  having a Birthday celebration pretty much every time we go for a visit lately.  When Lylah heard she would be going to Grammy and Papa's house with Aunt Lori,  she thought party.  Party means cake!  So this morning she chose clothes to wear around the house and got dressed.  Then she ran to her kitchen and got all the things she needed to make a cake for the party.  She was having a fun time baking and singing "Pat-A-Cake".  Glen and I laughed and laughed at her get up.

 

front view:  Too small sweater, winter hat, painted nails, 

red apron, and cake supplies ( juice, a pot, and a spoon)

 

 Back view:  Too small sweater, winter hat, apron,

princess undies, and knee high socks

Crazy, No!?

PS  When Grandpa Jones was out getting the shopping done, he came across a tiny two layered cake with pink icing and roses.  He bought it.  So Lylah got cake. Her wish is their command.   It all comes from being too cute.  Grandma and Grandpa stand no chance. 

Mommy's Party Animal

We had all of our Valentine's Day party hoopla this past week for school.   The parties (all four) went well and the friends all had fun.  My morning class was only a little disappointed to decorate cookies for our party instead of having cake.  I heard more than one of the 2 year olds telling their friends that we were having a Valentine's Birthday Party.  To all two year olds a party means...cake!  But they ate the cookies like champs.  After the cookies, they were quite happy to keep pretty close to our normal daily routine, so we went to the music area to dance.  All the mommies loved seeing the class dance to our favorite songs.  They get to hear their child say they danced and even hear the title of the songs, but they don't get the full effect unless they see the cuteness for themselves.  I was happy they did.  Cameras were snapping pictures nonstop, like good first time preschool kids' moms should.  It was a blast.
 
One of the moms said to me that she remembered how Lylah stole about 3 or 5 cookies when the class was supposed to be singing during the Christmas party.  We giggled about it (I was mortified at Christmas--but I realize the humor of the situation now).  You'll never guess who the only child to lick all the icing spoons after the cookies were finished could be!?  Oh, you  guessed Lylah?  Ding, Ding, ding!!  She came away from the serving table with pink icing ALL over her face.  She said, "Oh, mmmm, yumm, yumm, Mommy, I sure love that icing.  Isn't it so very good and pink!?" and smacked her lips.  What a  nut! At least she likes all food and not ONLY "sweeties".

 

2 second fake smile for me after the party

she was way more interested in her goodie bag

a picture in her Valentine's Day shirt I stitched

while watching Northanger Abbey

my first attempt at hand-sewing on a tee-shirt.

Next time I will use a hoop.  I thought it turned out OK.  I made a fun covered 

button hair clip to go with it too. I liked the clip better than the shirt...but no good picture 

Cookies were yummy.  Games were fun.  Candy bag was full enough.  Happy party girl.

So, I can Sew? Preschool sewing project

Over the past few weeks we have been doing  a sewing unit with my 4 and 5 year olds.  They were so excited about the unit.  There was quite a bit of talk about what they could make and for whom.  There was a lot of talk about who can sew and how it is done.  When we first started, they were all pretty sure that it was too hard for them or that they could just make anything right away.

We started slow with practice cards and shoe laces.  Then we progressed to making our own sewing cards, punching holes, making needles out of pipe cleaners, and sewing the card they made them selves.

 

you can see one home-made needle (orange) hanging down from the multiple-legged dog sewing card.  We made them by twisting a pipe cleaner into a needle shape, being careful to leave a hole for an eye to thread the yarn.  This  project was a huge success boosting the children's confidence in their own abilities to do something they thought was too hard at first.

Our next project was a sewing bag or project bag.  I brought in a ton of fabric a lady had given me when she chose not to sew any longer.  Much of the fabric was pretty groovy!  The kids chose the fabric they wanted, cut it to size using a pattern, and helped me sew it with the machine.  

 

cutting the pattern

Sewing the bag

"Hey!  I made this my own self!"  with a giant smile.

  

These were a few of the finished projects.  The child got to push the petal as I directed the fabric and told the child when to stop.  I only almost had my fingers sewn through 3 times. One friend said, " Let's try this baby out!"  They were so excited about this project too.  My goal was to have them work on some hand sewing projects, but I needed somewhere for them to keep works in progress.  So I came up with the  project bag.  They are all the size of a piece of construction paper (our pattern), and have a pocket on the front for needles and thread.  They open and close with a draw string ribbon.  

Our next project was only attempted by a few brave kiddos.  Although many were interested in the tools, not as many were interested in committing the time on the project.  I brought in broadcloth and sewing hoops for some more hand work.  I told the friends they could draw a picture and then use yarn to sew the picture by following the lines.  For this project I brought out real needles (crewel work needles with blunt tips and big eyes) in addition to the plastic needles we had been using.  They were quite impressed to be "REAAAALLY SEWING NOW MISS JENNY"  I write in all caps here because the volume went up with the level of satisfaction in the needles and the project.

There were several aliens and robots in the mix as well as a few hearts.  Lots of good work here.

Our biggest project (and my favorite) was a group project.  We made a tapestry from a piece of burlap fabric stapled to a wooden frame. The whole class really got into this project by learning to thread their own needle, selecting a color of yarn, and making all kinds of stitches.  We had to try hard to remember to put the knot in the back and come up through the back and down through the front instead of looping around the sides.  As the days of working on the tapestry progressed, they began to make stitches that crossed over previous stitches and tied them down.  They began to think of stitch placement and were going for a look with the color and size of yarn.  I introduced buttons and beads to the tapestry on the last days.  It is a true work of art and I love it.  They worked really hard on it and really made a lot of comments telling me how proud they were of the work they accomplished.

 

 

hard at work

We will be keeping our sewing stuff out as a center for the rest of the year and I know there are a few friends in class who will visit the sewing station time after time.  I am so happy we got to do this project. I loved it and the whole class really showed high levels of interest  for our whole 2 weeks.  Much of the amazing imspiration for my unit came from the Sewing School blog.  She has wonderful tips and lots of fun pictures of real kids doing real projects.  I think she even has a book coming out soon.  I am so grateful for all the wonderful blogs out there made by such creative people.  I am inspired daily. 

Wishful Thinkin'

Lylah keeps telling us about all the wonderful things that will happen in the spring.  We are hearing about butterflies, playing in the park again. trees looking pretty, flowers growing, gardens growing, and her birthday.  Glen had a wondeful plan for the family tonight that had us all wishing for the spring and summer.

Tonight we had an indoor camp out. We said we were pretending it was Summer.  We grilled hot dogs, made s'mores and Lylah got to "sleep" in her tent in the livingroom while watching "Chucky Cheese Mouse", aka Micky Mouse.  She had her fingernails and her "toe fingers" painted, and had a wonderful time.  We all had a lot of fun.  When it came time for bed, I moved the tent into Lylah;s room and we let her sleep in there.  She was so excited!  She came out once...so cute...went potty...got a drink...and went back to bed.  She woke up again and wanted to sleep in her own bed.  There she is still.  She is still in the crib and really enjoys it there.  I am on a serious hunt for the perfect twin bed for her "big girl" space, but no need to rush it.

This was a happy day.  I will keep it in my memory forever.  My sweet husband and my sweet Lylah.  I
 love this little family. 

 

s'mores under the broiler for about two minutes.  Yummy!

s'mores face and hands. she loves her "sweeties"

Tent resting and Chucky Cheese Mouse

Not a real Post

What's up? You say....   I don't mean to not post.  I am trying to be intentional around here, and I have been feeling a little flu-ish or run down or something.   But I have been doing something creative every day for the past two weeks.  Wow!  It has been YEARS since that has been the case.  I feel more like myself.  I promise to take pictures of the stuff I have been doing.  Lylah and I have been doing projects.  Really she has been watching the Wonder Pets and "making pies" with all my craft supplies, but she feels productive and we are enjoying time together.  Oh, I could let you in on the stuff I am making.  I am working on some felt cup cakes for a fund raiser, more hair clips, some valentines, sewing a few skirts and jumpers for Lylah, and the blessed craft room organizing.  I think the last one will always be on the list.

  I also checked out Peter Pan from the library.  I have never read it and  I  have been told that I must.  I cannot believe that I missed out on some of the major classics.  I may move on to the C. S. Lewis stuff next.  Nope.  Never read any of Narnia as a kid (only one as an adult).  Sad but true.   I would like to fancy myself as well-read, but I really am not.  I have read some great books...but then I just re-read them.  Ask me how many times I have read The Scarlet Letter or Jane Austin's books, or Anne Of Green Gables....it is more than once. 
  
     Well that's it.  I thought I would check in and say that I will really post something to see in the next few days.  Hang in there ( all one of you ). Back to work.  Or reading.  Or making lists.  Not bed.

Mommy had a Money

About a week and a half ago Lylah and I got in the car to go to school and a CD was playing.  We have had the CD for some time and usually do not have it on when Lylah is in the car.  It's not offencive or anything. It's just not her style of music.  It's a bit moody and more us than fun and kiddish.  Anyway, the CD was in the player and started on track one, "Rich Woman", by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant.  Lylah fell in love with the sound of the song and the beat.  She picked up on a few of the lyrics and is convinced that the song is about a Mommy, a Daddy, and a Baby, making it a family song.  She adores it.  She calls it "Mommy had  a Money" and likes to point out that he talks to "the baby" and the baby says "Daddy".  Sweet and innocent.  Every time we get in the car she says, "put in mommy had a money, mommy....play it again...again?"

I found the best recording  Youtube could offer for your listening enjoyment.  It's obviously not the best sound quality, but someone subtitled it.  It's a cool sounding song, although I like it better on the CD The rest of the CD I really dig too. You should check it out.    It's no Dan Zanes, but Lylah loves it as though it were.  Enjoy.