Hopeful Homemaker

May 19, 2013
by jennifer
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Simple. Quality. no. 20

This has been the strangest month. It is flying by and yet I can’t believe there are still two weeks to go. For the most part I am pleased with what has been accomplished this month and hope I can maintain my mental energy for all that remains. It’s a sprint to June! And now for my summary:

S – Smile and savor. I started my 15 days of Happiness series here on Hopeful Homemaker, but was so busy that I didn’t report on Friday or Saturday. I need to do that. There have been a lot of happy moments this week, even though it was a tough week.

I – Influence. I blogged more, which is good. I realized there is someone who I have felt for years did not like me, and so I tense up when I know I’m going to be around this individual. In an honest evaluation, I realized that my tension was probably half of the problem and possibly made the other person feel like I did not like them. I took a deep breath and explained my feelings, then apologized for not being bigger and more gracious. It turns out I was right, we both felt like the other person didn’t like them, although neither of us had any real feelings of dislike. I am so glad that I repented!

M – My health. I had a good week, drinking tons of water and fitting in exercise where I could. I look forward to the summer schedule which accommodates this priority much more easily than the school year does.

P – Participate. I went to my quilt group yesterday and had a great time with my sister. The winding down of soccer seasons brings bittersweet feelings. I have come to really like the mothers of the girls on that team and after two years of following our daughters around to support them, they’ve become friends. I will miss the conversations we have together and hope things go well with try-outs!

L – Live ahead. I feel good about my planning for the activities we have coming up. Last night I threw a party for my daughter’s soccer team and it was a complete success. I feel like I have a good start on all the things I’m responsible for in the next 6 weeks.

E – Embrace technology. I’m doing most of my planning on my phone lately, so I’m making fewer paper lists. I never thought I’d like it but my husband introduced me to Google Keep and it’s perfect for me. I love being able to have a list for each of the different things I’m working on, each a different color, and all of them right there together for me to scroll through.

Simple. Life is not simple right now, but I’m trying to do simple things to improve. My attention to my personal goals has been spotty in this month that requires such focus on school and other family matters. It will be nice to balance my focus more during the summer.

Q – Quality of Life Factor. This area is still going well and I’m thrilled! I keep getting behind on laundry, but the house in general is holding up under the pressure of the season and I’m getting rid of things daily. We didn’t have to scurry around much to get ready for last night’s party and it felt good.

U – urgency in important matters. Well, everything feels urgent right now. I’m doing my best to keep track of it all, write things down, and when I feel like I can’t do it all just take a deep breath. I have a couple of friends who inspire me and when I feel tired or overwhelmed I ask myself what they would do. Then the smile comes and I’m happy to keep working so that I can become more like them.

A – Aim higher. It’s interesting to watch all my students as deadlines pile up and projects are due. For the most part they’re all doing a good job of working hard. My 12 year old son approached me on Thursday night and asked if we could kidnap one of his best friends for an early morning birthday breakfast on Saturday. I looked at the calendar and it was rather full, but then I thought how great it was that he had this desire to do something fun for his friend. These impulses are the things I need to encourage so my kids will form habits of excellence and thoughtfulness. I called the friend’s mother and told her our idea, and the sound of her voice when she heard it told me we were doing the right thing. Big time. So the two of us got up early to go pick up friends and have a fun breakfast. I’m so proud of him for thinking of it and making it happen. I also enjoyed watching my 3rd grader work hard on a history project.

L – Laugh. I’ve been pretty stressed with my oldest son and today I’ve completely relaxed and am trying to reboot our relationship a little. I’m smiling, laughing, complimenting. I still have much to learn as a mother, especially with the older children. Yesterday when I had 15 teen-aged girls at my house playing Snatch the Rat I turned and saw my husband laughing as he watched them play. I was laughing too, laughing so hard my cheeks hurt. I realized I need to laugh more every day.

I – Inject the Spirit. We memorized a quote as a family this week. I didn’t feel as successful with this, although today has been better.

T – Take Inventory. I haven’t addressed this lately, other than to get rid of things. I’m on a mission to let it go and simplify as much as possible.

Y – Yes to youth. Huge success this week with the team party. One of my specific goals has been to do things that will help my daughter WANT to have friends at our house. The party was an opportunity for her to have a large group of girls over and I think she felt good about it. I certainly did! Things like this are NOT a natural talent for me but I’m making myself learn the skill of planning fun parties and it’s nice to have a success.

So, with the family I feel successful. There’s a lot I haven’t taken care of but it seems to be working out and the Lord has been kind to us as well. While we’re still under stress, I’m exhausted, the children are all over-tired, and life feels crazy, I think this is the best May we’ve had in years. We’re weathering it well. (Knock on wood!) And when it’s hard, I remember last year, with a son on crutches and how much harder it was. In all, I suppose the best feeling of all is the sense that I might actually be growing into this new stage of motherhood. I feel like I have a shot at getting good at it and I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. And so I work harder, pray more, and remind myself that right now is all I really have. Life is great!

Have a good week,

Jennifer

May 16, 2013
by jennifer
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15 Days of Happiness :: A Deep Breath

I’ll be honest. It hasn’t been the happiest day. It’s been a rugged day, full of unexpected complications. My mother’s heart carries a private weight that makes buoyancy difficult. Nothing catastrophic; the weight of life is heavier sometimes. Knowing I needed to write this post has had me thinking about happiness all day.

Every year I particularly love watching my Iceland poppies bloom. There is something so touching about the way they bow their heads as the pod bulges with potential. They remind me of those private moments when we quietly bow our heads to take the blows of life and gather the energy to lift our chins once more. They remind me of a mother summoning the strength to bring forth life. It is part of the process of making wonderful things happen, and I love how my flowers teach me this lesson anew each spring.

I’ve thought today about how happiness isn’t just a buoyant feeling we feel. It’s also something quiet and steady we can learn to tap into. Like the coals that burn long after the flames have died down, I think we can learn to find happiness in foundational things even when the days are hard.

Some of the quiet, steady blessings I reflected on today are: a loving husband who is consistent, my children who still love me even at the end of my lousy days, knowing that I stand on the shoulders of giants – amazing people in my own family tree whose lives are/were solid and true, the sun that rises and sets each day, the relief of praying to God who holds the future, the ability to hold very still and breathe deeply. Pausing in my complicated day to consider these things was my bowing, summoning, remembering. I felt like my poppy.

It’s ok to have tough days. Sometimes we have tough weeks, or even years. If we can pause to stoke the coals of faith, remembrance and hope we will find the strength to be steady and to hang on to the happy things that are ours.

So today my act of happiness was a deep breath. Several of them.

My deep breath allowed me to put the day in perspective. I counted so many blessings: the smell of my daughter’s hair as she climbed up on my lap, helping a daughter make a new friend, listening to my little girls play school together, taking care of something important, brainstorming a plan for my son to surprise a friend on his birthday, going on a bike ride, cleaning with my daughters, the sound of sprinklers, the neighborhood children playing in my yard, noticing how full of life and beauty my eight year old daughter’s face looked on the way home from school, a cool evening breeze. The noticing of these little things reminds me that after the bowed head comes a face lifted to the sun.

Sometimes happiness is knowing that soon we’ll bloom again.

Jennifer

May 15, 2013
by jennifer
3 Comments

Medallion Quilt Top: Border 4

I managed to get the 4th border on my medallion quilt, and that’s no small accomplishment at this time of year! (My 15 minute approach was what made it happen.)

For this border I went with half square triangles made from two of the prints in the Carnaby Street collection by Pat Bravo. I really like how the pink and citron are so unexpected.

For the corner blocks I made a simple pinwheel using solid fabrics. The pink and yellow are similar but a little brighter and I’m pleased with how the corners stand out without competing with the rest of the border.

How I made it:

Half square triangles: cut 20 – 4 inch squares of two contrasting fabrics. Use these squares to make 40 half square triangles. Trim them to 3.5 inches square. Sew 10 squares together. Make four strips. Strips should be 3.5 inches wide and 30.5 inches long.

Corner pinwheels: cut 8 – 2 5/8 inch squares of two contrasting fabrics. Make16 half square triangles. Trim to 2 inches square. Sew four squares together to make pinwheel. Make sure pinwheel block is 3.5 inches square. Sew a pinwheel block to both ends of two of the half square triangle strips.

Attach the border: carefully pin and sew a strip of pinwheels to one side of your medallion quilt top. Press. Attach a second strip to the opposite side of the medallion. Carefully pin and sew a strip with pinwheels to one of the remaining sides. Repeat with remaining border. The quilt top should now measure 36.5 inches square.

This is a medallion quilt of my own creation. You can see previous posts, including measurements and other instructions (including where to find the paper pieced arrow pattern), in these posts:

Lone Star Medallion center

Lone Star medallion center tutorial

Paper Pieced Arrow

Arrow Border and Border #3

I’ve started working on border #5 and am excited to see how it looks. This quilt top is turning out to be one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on. And my Marcelle Medallion? Still hanging in the sewing room, waiting for the flying geese border. Hopefully I’ll get to it soon.

Happy Sewing!
Jennifer

Linking to Freshly Pieced

May 15, 2013
by jennifer
2 Comments

15 Days of Happiness :: Make Time Your Friend

We’re all busy, with more to do than time to do it in. One of the greatest drains on my happiness is the feeling that time is my enemy. When I feel like I don’t have time to do what I should, I end up feeling helpless. The garage I don’t have time to clean becomes a source of guilt, the project I don’t have time to finish becomes mere clutter, the laundry I don’t have time to fold sits in a pile, the dream I don’t have time to chase taunts me as my day-to-day life holds no promise of improvement. I think we’re all like that. We feel like we don’t have time to finish so we never start. We don’t have time to do it right so we don’t do it at all. We don’t have time to be thoughtful so we aren’t. We don’t have time to organize our whole life so we just give up and keep on as we have been. The list goes on and on.

I’ve learned that it’s not really time that robs me of happiness. It’s my perception of time. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. In this life is 100% fair. Sure, we all have different constraints on our time, and we have different stages of life that govern how most of our time is spent. But we all have time. In order to have time be a source of happiness instead of a drain on happiness, we have to make it our ally.

Enter my kitchen timer.

I may not be able to work for several hours on a project and see it to completion all at once, but I have fifteen minutes. Somewhere in my day I can find 15 minutes to invest in the life I want to live.

This morning I took the timer in my closet and set it for 15 minutes. I quickly cleared the floor of clutter, then briefly went through my hanging clothes. Every time I found something I haven’t worn in a year, I tossed in a bag. Then I quickly got a couple of boxes down from my top shelf to see what was in them. To my surprise I found some maternity clothes I had forgotten about. Two minutes later I had 4 empty boxes and 5 bags of clothing to get rid of this afternoon. Yes!

My closet isn’t finished. There is more to go through, but I started something I’ve been avoiding and did far more in 15 minutes than I thought I could.

Right now my timer is ticking away for a 15 minute blogging break.

Yesterday the timer was there when I weeded one of the flower beds outside.

In a few minutes I’ll use it to tackle a pile of clutter on the kitchen counter.

Using 15 minutes to work on something I don’t have time to do makes me feel like I’m in control of time. It reminds me that I don’t need long segments of time to make improvements in my life. I can do something small right now, in the next 15 minutes! When these few minutes become valuable simply by changing my perception of them, time becomes my friend. It is my tool, given to me by a loving God to make good use of. He knows that he’s given me more to do than I can possibly accomplish, and he wants to see what kind of decisions I’m going to make with my time. Some decisions I made a long time ago; when I decided to have a large family I chose to have more cooking, cleaning, housework and driving to do than many other mothers. It eats up most of my time, but not every single minute. I have 15 minutes, and a steady 15 minutes each day can work miracles.

Today, set a timer for 15 minutes and do something awesome. It doesn’t matter that you finish, only that you do it. Do it every day. It will make you happy.

I promise!

Good luck, and happy living,

Jennifer

May 14, 2013
by jennifer
0 comments

15 Days of Happiness:: Wear a Smile

I had to make a difficult phone call today. It concerned one of my children and a problem that child is currently facing (or not facing). I was worried I wouldn’t express my concerns properly, worried that I would get emotional, worried that I wouldn’t be able effectively invite the person I was calling to be part of the solution. I tend to be serious-minded (that’s an understatement) and when you take a naturally serious person who’s trying to be serious about a big thing, well, you get a LOT of serious going on, and that’s not always helpful.

I took a deep breath. I went into a room by myself and started smiling until it felt genuine. Then I got out a pen and paper to take notes and dialed the number. My #1 thought was to keep the smile on my face so I would have a smile in my voice.

It worked. I had a very pleasant conversation about a very unpleasant thing. I got the information I needed. I know what I need to do next, and the individual I spoke with essentially joined my team, volunteering to do something TODAY which will help. She transferred me to another department and the smile in my voice led that conversation as well. The next person was also helpful, even discovering a small mistake on her end which will make what we need to do just a bit easier.

I hung up the phone smiling. Is the problem we are facing any less serious than it was before? Absolutely not. But by dealing with it in a pleasant, cheerful way, I nurtured small relationships within the community that can help my child instead of isolating myself by allowing my stress, worry and fears to translate into my tone of voice. I was happy as I ended the call, feeling more in control of my part in the situation.

With that success behind me and an even bigger smile on my face, I made a few more phone calls. The doctor’s office had overlooked something I needed help with. I needed information from two different schools regarding two of my students. I needed to make a last minute change with a dental appointment. In every case, the smile on my face made all the difference. Little inconveniences that could have frustrated both myself and the people on the other end of the phone went well, with compliments, laughter, helpfulness and courtesy woven throughout.

And all because I led with a smile.

So today, what can you do to put a smile on your face? I will testify that if you keep a smile on your face long enough, you will feel happy. Two hours later, I’m still grinning. I will also promise you that if you keep a smile on your face, your voice will reflect happiness and goodwill, thus spreading happiness even to those who can’t see you. I have learned and re-learned this lesson so many times, and yet I still need reminders!

Here are a few things I like to do to get myself smiling: play a favorite song, turned up loud, and sing along until you feel the smile sticking where it should be. Look in the mirror and smile at yourself until it’s a genuine one. Set an alarm (on your phone, perhaps) to go off ten minutes before the craziest parts of your day begin. Have the reminder simply say: SMILE. I use Google Calendar sometimes to do this, creating an event and scheduling reminders because yes, sometimes smiling needs to be an EVENT. Making it one reminds me how important it is to choose to smile. Or you can try my favorite thing: spend a few minutes watching or interacting with children, and you’ll find it impossible not to smile. They do it constantly and it will rub off on you. Don’t have any children around? That’s ok. Get online and find pictures of happy children and you’ll be smiling in no time. I’ve also read that pictures of pets make people smile, so you can try that, too. Just do something to get your brain’s attention and make yourself smile. Do it at least ten times today.

Good luck, and happy living!

Jennifer

May 13, 2013
by jennifer
1 Comment

15 Days of Happiness

I woke up last night every hour or so with the realization that I’d been trying to solve one difficult problem after another in one tense dream after the other. When, at last, it was time to wake the children for school, I already felt mentally worn out. While the things I was stressed about in my dreams were completely unreal, the feeling of dealing with successive problems was. As I look at the calendar and try to merge it with my to-do list for the duration of the month I wonder how we will possibly accomplish all that needs doing.

My next thought was that this is it. Today, right now, this month, is what I have to work with. While I know the stress of May will decline when my children are grown, it’s my reality for a good many years and I want the next few weeks to be fantastic. I want to accomplish much, feel happy and energetic, and help my children do the same. Much as I look forward to summer vacation, today is the time to be happy. It’s my responsibility to make time every day to feel and recognize joy.

To keep myself on track, I’m going to post a little series called “15 Days of Happiness.” Every day I will share something I’ve done that day which nurtured happiness. One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned in the last 18 months is that happiness is a choice, but it’s also a skill. We can learn to do things in ways that naturally enhance our happiness, making it easier to greet life’s challenges with equanimity. I’ve come a long way in developing some of these skills, but feel that I need a little brush-up course. It will help me finish up May with a happy heart and should also be a great springboard into summer. (I picked these flowers from my garden to help get me in the spirit.)

So come back tomorrow for Day 1, and let’s make these next 15 days the happiest of the year so far!

Happy Monday,
Jennifer

May 12, 2013
by jennifer
0 comments

Simple. Quality. no. 19 {Mother’s Day Edition}

Wow! I’ve been a slacker again this week, although in real life I’m running all day and falling into bed happy but exhausted at night. I have things to share here but have been out of the groove and so busy that I’m not making time for it. It needs to change.

Because it’s already late and because I haven’t had enough sleep for days, I’m going to change the format of this post. Plus, it’s Mother’s day, so I can write what I want, right?

On this Mother’s day, I’m grateful for several things:

I’m grateful that Mother’s day really has nothing to do with motherhood. I’m so glad that how today did or didn’t turn out has no bearing on what kind of mother I am or am yet to become. I often feel like I make some of my dumbest mistakes in the week or two preceding this holiday, and it is comforting to remember that Mother’s day isn’t a celebration of perfect mothers; it’s a day to appreciate the countless women who love and nurture, sacrifice and serve. We can do this for our own children as well as for other children. It’s a statement of our nature, not a head count of our children. Along these same lines, we had an interesting few hours around here tonight when a few of the children decided they’d rather go to bed than help their Dad make dinner. They were having a bad day, and it didn’t really matter what day it was. I reminded myself that it had nothing to do with how they feel about me or how I feel about them. Mother’s day is a wonderful day, and I had a great one this year, but it is still just a day. In the end, it’s not about one perfect day but about trying every day and tonight I’m immensely happy in that knowledge.

I’m grateful tonight that I can see. I had an interesting experience early in the week when my youngest daughter, in her sleep, suddenly thrust her arm into the air and her thumbnail jabbed my eyeball. I spent most of the week with one bloody eye, but my vision has been unimpaired as both the pain and the ugly eye has begun to heal. Not only did it make me more grateful for physical eyes that work (with lots of help from my contact lenses) but it also made me grateful for all the tender mercies, eternal truths and answered prayers that help me “see” even when things happen to pull us off course.

I’m grateful for tomorrow, and even for a few hours from now. The weekend brought some emotional highs and lows that kind of got to me. It was good to remember that things get better as we keep working. In the end, it all turned out just right.

I’m grateful for my sweet husband who put so much time and effort into life around our house this weekend. We got the garage cleaned out, a bike rack installed for all the bikes, lots of stuff hauled away, etc. He fixed every flat tire, hung hooks on the wall for backpacks, and was pretty much amazing. I feel so happy about what we accomplished!

I’m grateful I can still learn. As I’ve reviewed my performance as a mother, I am so thankful that I can keep learning. I can get better at handling this or that problem with this or that child. I can learn how to show love to so-and-so. I can get better at this. It’s what feeds my hope.

I’m grateful for our very imperfect life and family. The holes in the knees, the hair that needs cutting, the crying child, the sometimes messy car. I know some families that look perfect, and our family is by no means one of them. I have good friends who are totally real and whose families seem perfect because they are good. I know they’re not perfect but they are incredibly inspiring because the substance of what they’re doing is true to principle. They make good look cool. I also have other friends who seem to have both worlds conquered: good AND cool. They appear to have it all as well as being it all, and yet… it can never really be the case. One of those families who seemed to have it made has fallen apart recently and I find myself reflecting on all the mess that must have been lurking beneath the “perfect” exterior and somehow it’s made me grateful for the construction site that is my life and home. I want a family who chooses good over cool.

Today I learned:

I was happiest when I was busy wishing other women a Happy Mother’s Day. I texted some friends and family members, sent emails, left a few gifts on doorsteps and yesterday made a special visit. When I made Mother’s day a time to express appreciation for women I know who are my friends, examples and heroes, my heart sang with joy.

I love being up early… alone. I had a lesson to finish planning, so I got up early this morning to finish and the peacefulness of a quiet house in the early morning hours is one of my favorite things. The lesson? It went SO much better than I hoped. When I was done I was on cloud nine. I felt best about myself when I did something worthwhile.

This week:

I continued to work at going through the house in anticipation of everyone being home for the summer. In one bedroom we went through the dresser, closet and every inch of the room, removing things, cleaning out every little spot. I love how it looks now, and I love having a blank slate for the children to start from. Yay! I have one more bedroom and a few closets to go in the next couple of weeks..

I tried to focus on what was going RIGHT. So many little things seemed to pile up, but when I thought about all the things that are going right in our home, in each child’s life, it was easy to keep things in perspective and try to respond with kindness and love. In choosing this paradigm, I was able to SEE. I watched my ten year old daughter single-handedly prepare her favorite meal – my black bean tart – for 13 people. She made three of them! That same daughter also played a brilliant soccer game last night that I hope I won’t soon forget. She was amazing and I loved every minute of it. I watched my oldest daughter sing in her choir concert and could hardly believe how grown up she is. I watched my oldest son learn something new. So many things went right!

I gave a late birthday gift that turned out to be just right, in spite of my tardy delivery. I had some much-enjoyed conversations with friends this week, some planned and some a chance meeting as we were here and there supporting our children. I also ran into my favorite childhood babysitter, and the funny thing was that I recognized her voice while my back was to her. We had a great talk and it was so fun to catch up and share funny memories of her watching me and my 7 brothers and sisters. I am so blessed!

I am trying desperately to plan ahead so I can keep things moving properly. There is more to do than I feel I can manage, but that doesn’t change the fact that it must be done, and now. I’ve got some parties to pull together, projects to finish, deadlines to meet. Crazy as it is, I do feel like we’re holding up better than we have in the past few years.

I am WAY too low on sleep. Early mornings, late nights of homework and everything in the middle are wearing us thin. I have to hang in a little longer.

And with that, I’m going to bed! Have a great week.

Jennifer

May 5, 2013
by jennifer
0 comments

Simple. Quality. no. 17 & 18

My heart is a jumble of emotions tonight… gratitude, happiness, worry, relief. What a wonderful, crazy time of year this is! We’ve had a good week and I’m so very grateful for my blessings. We’ve had a couple of really late nights this weekend and my husband and I are feeling beat. The house is a funny blend right now of giggles and crying as some of the kids melt down from lack of sleep. We’re all a little run down.

A quick summary for week 17: I painted a bedroom and we moved our youngest girls into their own room. It’s been fun to watch my three year old enjoy her first big bed, and such a relief to have the room stay clean with little effort for more than a week now! I must be getting better. The bedroom they moved out of went from 4 to 2 girls in it and so it’s also stayed clean. Huge success! My brother and his two boys came to stay for a night and we also saw my parents for a couple of hours. My husband went on a short trip with his brothers and took our second son with him for some memorable father/son time. While they were done we finished reports, attended performances, played soccer games and worked hard. At one performance I slowed down enough to talk to the relatives of a friend who were visiting from Canada and discovered that they knew my great-Aunt, the older sister of my paternal grandmother! What a small world, and what fun it was to talk. It was a VERY busy week but we managed things well and I felt like I took big steps toward my WIG: going through every room in the house to eliminate clutter before school is out. There is much more work to do, but I felt great about my efforts. On Sunday night we felt like we needed to escape the neighborhood, so we jumped in the car and went on a walk as a family. Two locations and a couple of hours later we came home with our children saying things like “this was the best Sunday ever!” and we finished the night with a picnic on the lawn. It took effort, but we were able to take a hard afternoon and turn it into a good memory. It was a great week.

Now for this past week.

S – smile and savor. Working on this. I keep pushing back a wave of worry and laughter is definitely most effective. Today I laughed a lot with my oldest son about goofy things and it felt good. There have been so many moments to enjoy. Things like the afternoon my seven year old son followed me around for hours sharing little thoughts and jokes with me, tickling my five year old while doing her hair this morning, telling the kids about a voicemail I left a friend in which I sounded like a total dork. Life is funny and oh, so good!

I – influence. Hmmm. I would say it was a so-so week here. I had plans I didn’t execute. I missed another birthday and I also missed my Dad’s birthday (how lame can you get?!?). But today I felt like I was able to notice several people and make time to hear how they’re doing. I had a good time yesterday with my sister at a sewing class. I had a few opportunities to be thoughtful and tried to chase each one of them to completion.

M – my health. Well, my success here is all over the map right now and it’s directly related to how busy the day is. I am doing my best and I’m not going to beat myself up over my failures. I will simply keep at it.

P – participate. I mentioned the sewing class, which has actually been a blessing as I feel like I’m starting to make some friends through my sewing hobby. I’m also enjoying opportunities to visit more with neighbors as the weather draws us all outdoors. I need to blog more.

L – live ahead. I don’t feel ahead on anything right now, but we are managing to get things done in a timely manner and I feel like, so far, we’re doing better in this wild season than we have in the past. Of course, I have four wild weeks ahead and I may quickly lose all sense of order!

E – embrace technology. I downloaded a new app this week that I love for my phone, and am doing all sorts of planning on my phone which I never thought I would enjoy. I lost it somewhere today (with the volume off, of course) and am a little worried about starting Monday without my checklist. I never thought I’d quit making paper lists, but here I am. Let’s hope I find the phone!

Simple. The week felt anything but simple. My work on personal goals definitely wanes when we’re so busy.

Q – quality of life factor. In this area I’m doing great! The house is getting better every day as I make my way through every room to simplify what we have. I’m probably spending the majority of my “free” time here. Because of this it was easy to have a houseful of extra kids over on Friday and we also watched a little girl overnight while her Dad was out of town. We’re getting better in this area.

U – urgency in matters of importance. Well, thanks to my husband the oldest three all got to the temple this week. We got our 7th grade shots taken care of, along with kindergarten shots. I have a list of non-urgent important things to make urgent which I look at every day. Another reason to find my phone!

A – aim higher. I feel good about this area too. Today I watched my daughter bake a batch of cupcakes and put together a pretty birthday gift for a friend. I watched my oldest son quietly coach another young man through his first experience with passing the sacrament at church. This young man has autism and our son handled everything with sensitivity and kindness. I was so proud of him, and felt so much love for both those young men. It was fun to look around and see how many people were smiling with joy at the sight of this young man being successful. In fact, it made me a little weepy, and that weepy feeling has followed me through the day (thus explaining my heart all in a jumble tonight). The payoff moments are few and far between but they are sweet when they come.

L – laugh. We’re trying to do a lot of this. We had some good moments and some tense moments. I’m working on it.

I – inject the spirit. We had a great night on Monday after a soccer game, taking a drive as a family and listening to a fantastic cd. We’re trying to be creative, do things differently every once in a while to get the attention of the children and make them feel like we’re keeping things fun and interesting. It’s fun to work together with my husband on this goal.

T – take inventory. Not much done this week.

Y – yes to youth. Our busy schedule is making it hard for most of the kids to do what they want, but I’d still say that life is good in this area. I’m getting better at adjusting our life to include extra teenagers and we’re having a great time.

On the whole I’m very pleased with the week. Tomorrow I need a good planning session or I’ll be trailing behind before I know it. I love this family of mine so much and am so proud of them.

Have a great week!

Jennifer

May 3, 2013
by jennifer
0 comments

Still Here

It’s been almost two weeks since I last posted… an extended break I didn’t plan. I just set my timer for 15 minutes, long enough to briefly check in here and then get back to work. It’s May now, something I can hardly believe yet at the same time it must be May. No other time of year feels like this.

Life is crazy busy – frantic – and yet there have been so many little pleasures in the cracks. Some I’ve done a good job of nourishing; others spring up on their own to briefly flood my heart.

I’m giddy about my flowers, all cut from my own yard. It’s been such a pleasure to share a vase here and there, to let my children pick at will, and to fill many containers in the house with them. While I hope to get much better at gardening, and to learn to nurture a cutting garden that’s in bloom non-stop from spring to fall, I’m happy to take spring’s bounty as an achievement.

I’ve been thinking a lot about happiness and how so many different things make me happy, and how so many different things also rob me of happiness. Sometimes it’s harder to recognize joyful moments when you’re running too fast and that’s definitely the speed we’re at right now. I’ve decided to keep track of a joyful moment every day in May and hope it will help recharge me.

Today’s joy: half of my children brought a friend home from school and the entire group managed to get along well for several hours. My kitchen is clean, even with everyone running in and out and I love that feeling. My oldest son just did some work in the yard without being reminded and then decided to help a neighbor with his overgrown lawn. All day long I’ve been reminding myself to focus on what is going right and my heart sang with happiness when I heard him tell me where he was going. I still have a mountain of clean laundry to fold, several bathrooms to clean, and a long to-do list to work on, but these three things going right are enough.

My sewing machine is as neglected as my blog. I was talking to my parents last weekend and described this time of year as my “sewing off-season.” There is so much to do elsewhere, and now yard work is on the list as well. I do peek in every day or two at the tidy stacks and hope I’ll have time soon. I set some wildly important goals for the month, one of which is to thoroughly go through every room in the house before school is out so we can start the summer clean and clutter-free. While I haven’t made the progress I hoped to, I have had many days when I went to bed exhausted but happy with the feeling that I might just have ended the day a tiny bit ahead of where I started.

The timer has rung and I have an army of hungry children to care for.

And a gorgeous spring evening to enjoy.

I’ll be back soon. Promise.

April 22, 2013
by jennifer
9 Comments

Arrows

I finished all the arrows, and border 2 on my modern medallion quilt is complete! I’m so glad I took the time to do this. Not only was it fun to try paper piecing for the first time, it looks as good as I pictured. Relief!

I mentioned last week that I found the pattern on Craftsy, by Sew What Sherlock. I shortened the length of each arrow by 1/2 inch so it would fit on each side. Because the measurements of my center block were a little bit random, I decided to add a third border that is just a single print to bring the measurements to a number that’s a little easier to work with. With the arrows, the quilt top now measures 24 inches unfinished, or 23.5 inches finished.

I cut four strips that are 3.75 inches wide by 24 inches long, plus four 3.75 inch squares to make the third border. I love this Jennifer Paganelli print from her Poodle collection in the perfect shade of mint. It looks fabulous with the Carnaby Street prints! The corners are fussy cut from another Carnaby Street print. Now the medallion measures 30.5 inches unfinished, or 30 inches square finished which makes the math much less complicated.

I went scrappy with the arrows, using lots of little pieces in the general color scheme of my lone star. I must say it is really fun to have those tiny strips of white show up between the arrows. There’s a precision about paper piecing that’s awfully fun, although I felt like I made a new mistake every time.

I’m so proud of myself for figuring this out! I’m in spring sports mode with my children, which means that sewing has come to an almost standstill, but I find myself walking into my sewing room just to peek at it again. I used a navy blue text print for the arrow shafts and love the little patches of white text that show up along the shaft. It gives each shaft a bit of variation that I’m pleased with.

In fact, I like it so much I keep thinking “maybe I should do another arrow border…”

And this medallion thing? I really enjoy it, and there are so many different things you can do! SO much fun.

I’ve got the next border planned and hope to work on it soon.

Jennifer

Linking to Freshly Pieced