Hopeful Homemaker

The Way of Tulips

February 23, 2012 jennifer Musings on Life and Beauty

My husband gave me tulips for Valentines Day. I love tulips, love them so much.

There is something about the way tulips bend and reach that speaks to my heart. They lean on each other, they reach out and around to bend toward the light. Sometimes they bow in the middle yet the flower so often lifts its head. I love how gracefully they do this. They are graceful yet strong. They communicate movement, change and pose all at the same time. I love it.

I don’t feel like I’ve been very graceful lately. I’ve been overwhelmed by some of the challenges of motherhood, worried sick about some of my children, tired, anxious. I want to follow the example of my tulips. It’s ok to bend and to lean, but it’s best to still lift your head to the light. So what if I have some things I’m not happy about? That’s all the more reason to seek happiness, to lift my head, to calm my heart and find peace in doing my best, in doing what is most important. All the more reason to put a smile on my face and a bounce in my step, to find delight in little things.

As I’ve watched these flowers for the past week, I’ve been reminded of my favorite Shaker hymn, “Simple Gifts.”

Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free

‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain’d,

To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come ’round right.

I guess one of life’s great lessons is coming down happily where we ought to be, even though it isn’t where we thought we’d be, bowing and bending with grace and not shame, trusting that we’ll come ’round right in the valley of love and delight in the end. And trusting God even when the turning feels more like spinning.

Jennifer

The Swoon-Along… I’m in!

February 22, 2012 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

Sometime mid-January I saw the news that there was going to be a “Swoon-along” and then all of a sudden there were 600+ people doing it. I bought the pattern when it first came out and seeing all these quilts motivated me to go through my fabric stash and choose some fabrics.

I ended up with Tanya Whelan’s Ava Rose for most of the quilt, with a few other fat quarters thrown in. I’ve now made two blocks, so I guess although I’m a late starter, I’m in!

I made these blocks and thought to myself that this quilt is perfectly named. I was swooning over how fabulous they are! They’re huge blocks, 24.5 inches square, and the entire quilt is just 9 blocks. I love how neatly it came together, all the points matching up just right, and I’m generally in love with the fact that two fat quarters can make something so pretty! So I have 7 more blocks to go.

Katy is already done with hers, so I’m really behind. I know I probably shouldn’t have started another project, but I like the pace that she is pushing and I’m hoping it helps me to get a lot more done than I would on my own. In fact, she’s already talking about starting another quilt along with another of Camille’s patterns mid-March. As both of those patterns are quilts I’m already interested in, it would be great if I could catch up and keep up and get a lot done!

While scrolling through Katy’s blog I also saw this:

It’s from another quilt along, which means there’s another quilt that I think I MUST make . Breathtaking.

Ok, so this might be a sickness. I love all these quilts.

Back on my own sewing table, I’m working at the baby quilt you all gave me opinions on a couple of weeks ago. It’s a simple pattern, from the Sparkle Punch quilt along over at Oh Fransson , and although it’s easy I’m finding it to be slow going. Lots of trimming is the reason. Still, I really hope it will be cute and worth it in the end, if the baby isn’t too old by then, that is. This is my first experiment with “wonky” sewing. It’s not too hard, and I think it will be really cute.

I’m still working through my cute little stack of fabric.

Now there’s just one problem: where on earth to find the time? I suppose that’s a much better problem than having time and nothing to do.

Jennifer

One comment quilting

Cupid’s Arrow Game – Valentines Day Party Game

February 21, 2012 jennifer crafts & activities, Valentines Day

Looking for ideas for your Valentines Day class party games? We played the BEST game at my daughter’s 2nd grade Valentines Day Party, and I just have to share it. It’s simple, easy to prep, inexpensive, easy to clean up and lots of fun for both girls and boys.

It’s called Cupid’s Arrow and here’s what you need:

Q-tips and straws. I went to my local dollar store and found q-tips in different colors. Score! We used two boxes, or 800 q-tips for our class (I took twice that many with me, you never know how fast they will shoot their q-tips!). You also need straws, but I found that all the straws for sale at local stores, including the adorable paper straws we all love, were too narrow to fit q-tips inside them. I ended up going to a local fast food chain and buying some milkshake straws for a quarter.

You also need a large bowl and a large blanket or tablecloth that you don’t mind having kids walk on, because they will. Oh, and I recommend a trash bag as well. I’ve learned that taking an extra trash bag to any class party is always helpful, just like bringing your own dish towels to any church kitchen.

To play the game, simply lay the blanket out on the floor and place the bowl on one end. You may need to move desks to make room, or even use the hallway if needed. Line the children up on the other end and give them all a straw and a fistful of q-tips.

When you say “go” they start putting q-tips into one end of the straw and blowing through the straw to “shoot” their arrow. The goal is to get q-tips into the bowl. We had two teams, represented by the two q-tip colors. Stand back and let them shoot. Seriously, you will end up with q-tips all over the place but they will have fun learning how to aim and get them in. I found that the girls enjoyed this activity as much as the boys did.

The blanket on the floor is intended to help the kids stay back an equal distance from the bowl. I found that their excitement caused them to get closer and closer. I let them. The point is to have fun, after all. We didn’t end up counting which team won at the end anyway, because they just wanted to shoot the whole time. At the end of each rotation we collected the q-tips from around the floor and dumped them in the bowl, which I dumped in the trash.

Sometimes planning activities for classroom parties feels intimidating or overwhelming. Playing Cupid’s Arrow reminded me that Valentines Day party games can a lot of fun without being expensive or over-planned.

Before they went to the next station, we also did a quick Jello Slurping contest. They kept their straws, sat on my blanket (to protect the classroom carpet), got a cup of jello and waited for “go”. It was fun to watch them.

My daughter and her cute friend…they make me smile.

Cupid’s Arrow was a really fun Valentines Day party game! I wanted to play it later as a family but the night was just too crazy. Instead, we’re going to have a q-tip war sometime soon. I can just picture it: ten people blowing hundreds of q-tips around my family room. It’s going to be great!

Hopeful Homemaker

27 comments valentine

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