Posts (page 2)
A few weeks ago Joseph found that he could lift the lid of the Airconditioning (AC) in the sunroom and could then turn the dials to have it go on, off, blowing harder or less. Mommy and daddy did not think that was so fun a game, so after a few trial solutions, they found out they could pull the nobs of the dials off. I put them away on a little bookshelf at the other side of the room out of Josephs reach and sight. He now and again went to the AC poked his fingers around but quickly lost interest since no interesting noises or blazes started and all was quiet and happy again during playtime in the sunroom.
Our little guy however is growing like a weed and aparently he can now reach the top of that little bookshelf if he stands on tiptoes. He demonstrated that while I had turned my back for a moment and managed to get his hands on the forgotten nobs. Now here is where he gets too smart. He must have remembered where he saw them and what they were, because he proceeded to bring them over to the AC and try to prod them back in the right hole. This would have been impressive enough in my opinion. He did not think so. He left the nobs under the AC for a bit to play with other things, but when daddy arrived downstairs, he wanted to be really impressive and proceeded to make a new atempt, this time succeeding somehow in re attaching the nobs and to torn the AC on. Considering the fact that you need to line up a tiny half moon shape in the inner ring of the nob with a metal rod in the dial, I am impressed. His grandfather says he is going to be an engineer.
This is next weeks menu plan. I haven't posted my menu's in a while, but they keep a big part of my life. I think menu plans are the first thing that came back in my household routine after baby was born. I need to be able to look at the list at noon and see what I need to do so dinner is ready.
My husband needs to work like crazy for the next few months, so I try to have dinner ready to be on the table within ten minutes after he comes home. That means that prep work and part of the cooking need to be done before. There is not much room to experiment with new dishes, so I try to keep it at some easy simple staples. So for the next week this is the menu.
Sunday
pizza (for now groceries are on sunday, though we try to change this to saturday. After a day of running around, it's easy to just put a pizza in the oven.)
Monday
chili con carne in the crockpot.
tuesday (I made the mushroom sauce yesterday)
pasta with mushroom sauce and pine nuts
wednesday
cherries with meatballs
Thursday
stuffed pasta
Friday
fish with green beans, tartar sauce and sweet potato mash
saturday
eat out
Alternative:
Turkey mignonette with stir fry
Sometimes, adding a little touch of femininity here and there can add an entirely different mood to your day. On a whim, I went into the garden to see if there were some flowers that I could put in a vase. These were the last ones on the bush and just begging for one more moment of glory before autumn comes and has them fade away. I cut some of the green leaves away and put them in a simple clear green vase. Now they are standing on my desk and making me smile each single time I watch them. I should have cut much more flowers this summer, because the garden we received with the house has so much beauty to offer and with the heat we barely enjoyed it at all.
Well, a lesson learned for next year, and for the flowers of autumn. It doesn't take much to add a little feminine touch on them, a little vase of flowers, especially real flowers does wonders for the atmosphere of an entire room.
I am already thinking about our Halloween costumes. While the wheather here makes you think of barbecues and summer, my mind is in autumn and winter.
I love Christmas, and I dislike stress, together that makes for a good combination to start early. I have started on making one christmas present, I am making up lists on what else I need to make or buy. And I am trying to plan things out. Thanksgiving needs not much thought since we will go to my parents in law. I may make some cookies, but that will be all I need to do for that holiday. But Christmas is another thing. Last year, Joseph was less than three months old and not sleeping, so we were unable to do anything for the holiday aside from flying to Belgium with him and being spoiled. This year, I would like to do Christmas cards again, some little gifts, a plastic tree and some decorations. It will take some careful planning and lots of in advance work, because from september on our schedule is already filling up with Josephs first birthday, a weeklong visit of friends of mine in october, a little outing in november for my husband and me, plus Thanksgiving, my husbands birthday, and his fathers birthday, and then we are getting pretty close to Christmas already and flying to Belgium. Since all our last travel episodes have gone awry, and we will be travelling with a toddler this time... I want to be REALLY well prepared.
Here is my little boy, being awarded a 'reading medal' at our library for all the books mommy and he read. He got a lot of goodies. A coupon for a free frosty at Wendy's, an iron on of the library, a coupon for a free book at the Friends of the Library booksale, a rub on tattoo, and so on.. And then of course, the medal. It is actually pretty nice with an open book depicted over the shape of the state of South Carolina. They made a lovely little ceremony of giving the medal, with triumphant music of... Star Wars.
While I am not that big a Star Wars fan (Lord of the Rings is my nerdy movie love), my husband is. He loved the movies as a child and one of our first dates was to the latest edition of a Star Wars movie. On our wedding I surprised him by having the cake being entered on music of Star Wars. I think the Emperors march or something. The cake had been made by a friend of ours and as the lights were dimmed the music started and there was firework coming out of the cake as they rolled it out. (that was a surprise for me too)
So now I have two wonderful memories associated with Star Wars. We are actually thinking about adding a third one. For Halloween this year, we are seriously considering Star Wars Costumes. There are some incredibly cute Star Wars toddler costumes. I found that out while looking for a Golum costume for Joseph. There was a LOTR marathon on TV the last few days and Joseph now and again had a peek and he became incredibly animated when he saw Golum. He went to the TV and started to interact with him. Now he is not allowed to watch TV himself and we also put the TV off when we notice he is watching along with a program that we are watching. But he was happily playing, ignoring the TV until Golum appeared. And he just LOVED that weird little creature. Too bad we could not find a todler Golum costume, but... he might make a very cute Darth Vedar.
A while ago, I stumbled over this blog: Broken Needle. And I immediately fell in love. Seeing the beautiful embroidery and knitting projects this lady does has me in awe. It makes me hopeful and envious at the same time. I have had to put embroidery to rest for a bit, my eleven month old boy does not leave me the time for it. And I miss it a lot. Embroidery was, for the longest time, my only non word related hobby and I felt like I was finally gaining some skills in it. Had I discovered this blog a bit earlier, I would have jumped in on the idea of an exchange. I had never heard of it, and I think it is great fun.
Reading this blog reminds me of my all time favourite embroidery magazine: Inspirations. Inspirations is an Australian Embroidery magazine with contributors from around the world. It truely is the "Rolls Royce of embroidery magazines" The lay out is stunning, the articles interesting, the projects to die for and the explenations very clear.
Did I mention that Inspirations will be in the USA at the Embroiderers Guild of America convention in Atlanta? I so wish that I could go. It's only a four hour drive, but with a baby four hours to and from become too much. It might be the best thing for me not to be able to go. You see, I had promised myself that, as soon as I had gotten my drivers licence, my reward would be membership of the Guild. I would go to monthly meetings and hone my skills. Unfortunately in this season of my life, I just do not have the time.
My sweet baby boy is more important and all demanding. It is not that I would not have the time for the once a month meeting, but I simply would not have made a stitch in between meetings. Embroidery, to me, requires relaxation, It requires spending some time to set up. It requires some space to spread out the needles, pins, and threads... without being afraid that a little hand will grab and hurt himself. After months of rebelling and trying, I have finally said goodbye to embroidery for a (hopefully short) season in my life. Reading the wonderful Broken Needle blog (and all the enticing links) is as bittersweet for me as going through my collection of Inspirations magazines. I look at all the beauty and all the wonderful projects beckoning and I feel a longing to create beauty that is hard to deny.
On the other hand, I have picked up knitting since it is easier to well... pick up here and there when you have a few minutes. My first project were baby booties that turned out much too big, but did get finished and actually had the shape of well... baby booties. Quite a triumph. By now I have one third done of my shawl and I so enjoy the feeling of soft, luxurious boucle wool. I hope Maria, for whom it is intended as a Christmas gift will enjoy it as much as I enjoy the feeling of making it. For now, it satisfies my longing to create, to feel the beauty of thread and fabric. It fills a little void in me and makes me a happier, more relaxed mommy. What is it they say? "Improvise, adapt, overcome". Strange to find the Marine Motto in a post amidst embroidery and babies. Nicholas Brown, my beloved little brother in spirit, would be proud of me.
I was serving as an extra ordinary minister of Holy Communion, and my husband was holding Joseph, who decided to be nice during mass! Not too much wrestling to get away, not too much screaming. On top of that, the choir song Rutter. I have a great weakness for Rutter. And with no one trying to escape from the pew, I had time to pray and contemplate and actively participate in mass. It is a wonderful and refreshing feeling and gives me new courage each time. As extra ordinary minister of Holy Communion, today I was administering the cup. It always gives me such a humble and special feeling to be allowed to offer the cup as the blood of Our Lord.
I love jewelry. But I rarely wear it. I don't know how this happened. I have always loved jewelry. I used to save up money to actually buy an inexpensive piece now and again even while in college. I used to give jewelry to my mom. Recently I mentioned to my husband, my wonderful, perfect husband, that he never gives me jewelry. He gives great presents (can you see that gifts however inexpensive) is one of my love languages? But he never gives me jewelry. I always thought this was because his mother doesn't like to be given jewelry, she prefers to pick things out herself. But now I realise... I rarely ever WEAR jewelry, so he must not think I like it. Well, that is going to change. Today I am wearing my engagement ring, I managed to put my wedding ring back on (finally lost enough weight after baby) and I am wearing a locket that I bought for myself upon graduating highschool. It makes me feel put together and ready for anything. A nice way to add a bit of pizzaz to a day!
Well, last week was not the greatest of my life, to put it mildly.
On tuesday, I had to go and get fingerprinted etc. to put a next step in the process of becoming a permanent resident in the US. As if they haven't fingerprinted me ten times already. I wonder what they keep doing with these fingerprints. Every time I see a CSI episode, I keep thinking that my prints are in that computer, clogging up the system ten times over.
My dearest son was so fussy all week (except tuesday actually) I could have pasted him behind the wallpaper, to use a Dutch expression. I reduced his nursing to five times a day and he was aparently convinced I am just doing it to torture him, because I am such a cruel mom. He wanted to make that point very clear and believe me, even at ten and a half months, that little boy can get his opinion across.
We received some bad personal news and all through that I suffered from what, according to the doctor, probably was a case of foodpoisoning. (I THOUGHT that eggroll tasted weird. Luckily I only finished half of it). By sunday I thought I was ready for a nervous breakdown. Lucky my wonderful husband helped out as much as he did, and his parents were here on sunday and pitched in.
By monday things were getting a bit better and today life seems almost normal again. I am GLAD that week is over, and some prayers are still apreciated as we recover.
