Reverie

Sunday afternoon I lay in bed after a rare and wonderful nap.  Swedish foam and down comforter on a wintery day are an amazing combination. I think I could have laid there till the next morning…

I stared up at the ceiling trying to decipher shapes and faces out of the dimple dots above me as my mind was wandering around the world and back.

I was feeling so reflective, pausing to remember in detail our home in Africa. I was walking through our apartment laying my mind’s eye and my thoughts on various details that I love. That I miss. And I was fondly thinking of our friends there. I miss them too.

Enough time has passed that our life there has largely become idealistic in my head. I think this happens naturally when you are separated from a place or person for a significant amount of time. However, I’m smart enough to know that life there wasn’t perfect and that it comes with a heap of ‘character-building’ experiences, DAILY.

But I still miss my white tile countertop and my santuko knife. And the local market. And my gas stove.  And I really, really miss my friends. For a short time that afternoon, I felt like I was back there again. It was nice.

“The gift of reverie is a blessing divine, and it is conferred most abundantly on those who lie in hammocks or drive alone in cars. Or lean on hillside fences in Kentucky. The mind swims, binding itself to whatever flotsam comes along, to old driftwood faces and voices of the past, to places and scenes once visited, to things not seen or done but only dreamed.”

William Nack wrote those prose in his article “Pure Heart” about Secretariat in Sports Illustrated. I read the book last year and read his article soon after. This paragraph struck me as some beautifully crafted sentences and I wrote them down and have read them many times since then. 

If you ask me, reverie is also conferred on those who snuggle in a warm bed on a frigid Sunday afternoon. And it was a blessing divine.

Quote of the Day

I think this is my first time posting a Quote of the Day from someone other than a family member.  This is the first and will not be the last. Words hold such power and wisdom. They challenge and inspire, don’t they?

It is the good things that keep us from the best things.

–Anne Ortlund

The Best Christmas Gift Ever

I reached a new level in my Mama experience this Christmas. My boy H made me a gift (with Grammi’s help)! It was the first time he has ever made a gift for me. Oh. My. Goodness.

The tears welling up in my eyes really took me off guard as I unwrapped it and saw what it was. My heart EXPLODED when I opened this treasure.

It’s a hanky. (Yes, we’re a hanky family and proud of it. Cotton fibers are so much nicer to the skin than the paper fibers of tissues.) My son colored a rainbow of his favorite colors on his Mama’s new most favorite hanky ever. It's beautiful and I love it. It can’t be explained. Also, it's way too lovely to ever actually blow any of my snot into it. Just too darn special.

Way. Way. Special.

Hearts ‘n Stuff

Tonight I decided it was high time to decorate for Valentine’s Day. You agree? No? You think I’m crazy. But that’s okay!! I don’t care!

As a side note, I ordered a four dollar kids book about Saint Valentine and I’m super excited to read it to my kids (or watch Mike read it to the kids, which is much more likely) and learn how the holiday started... I know it’s roots aren’t traced back to Hallmark. I also know I could just google it, but I’d much rather have a book.

Aaaanyway, I brought some things from Ohio decorate with (I love shopping at my Mom’s house!), and they certainly make do in our current temporary place!

I sewed these little (not-handmade) flowers onto this gorgeous crocheted lace. I like this little garland so much I do hope I can find somewhere to put it all year ‘round! ( I talk as if I have a home… ha!)

The subway art was downloaded from eighteen24 – a lovely site – and framed in a thrifted frame.

And I had no plans to make this little guy (gal?), but I saw the supplies when I was digging around in the sewing box that I grabbed out of storage a few days ago, the idea popped in my head and I whipped it up. I love it!

I don’t think these will be the last pink and red and hearty things you see from me…

Quote of the Day

Me: H, what was the best part of your day?

H: Snuggle time.

Me: Where did you have snuggle time?

H: At school. (preschool)

Me: Who did you snuggle with?

H: Jesus.

Fresh to This World

This morning I got a text. It was a photo.

Have you ever seen a woman in labor look so happy and perky and beautiful! Um, yeah… you ain’t never EVER gonna see a pic of me when I was in labor up here in these virtual parts.... Lord have mercy… how does my sister look so fabulous?!!  This was even before the epidural!  Also, let me mention (with a tad of jealousy)… that she was 5 to 6 centimeters dilated before labor even really started… have you ever heard of such a thing?! She’s a machine, I tell ya…

Anyway, you may have guessed by now that she made me an Auntie again today! Woot woot!

Daphne Eve Marie was born this evening weighing 9 1/2 pounds and measuring 22 inches long.  She a healthy gorgeous thing and everyone is doing great!

She is perfect, has some good lungs (heard her on the phone calls!) and looking so much like her big brother’s little sister! I can’t wait to bundle her up in my arms when I get to take a solo (yes, I’m traveling alone!) trip to go and welcome her to this world myself sometime soon.

Congratulations Sar and Dave! She’s a miracle, formed by God’s hands and placed in your arms.

Homemeade Baby Legs (aka Leg Warmers)

Sweet N had some teeny tiny legwarmers when she was a wee one, thanks to my husband’s cuz (Hi Nicole!). They were pretty darn cute and I wanted a repeat. So I made her some! I picked up a couple pairs of women’s knee socks on clearance at Target way back in the summer.

Then I took them to Jordan, followed the instructions on this website, using the foot of the sock to make a cuff on the long leggy part.

I sewed it all by hand over several sittings. I rarely sit for more than, um, twelve seconds, so it’s a bit challenging to find time to hand sew some toddler leggings. Ha! They are far from perfect, but I was very pleased with the outcome.

My model was on location in India when these photos were taken.

These knit leggies have already several countries and back again. Oh my.

But they don’t stay still for long!