Strawberries ‘n Cream plates

Dishes, Happy Finds

One of my summer goals is to get rid of everything we don’t need, everything that doesn’t enhance our life as a family.  It’s a bit tricky to reconcile this with my love of thrifting and old things.  Mostly it means I’m staying away from my favorite places.

I did, however, stop at a yard sale with my daughter for about 3 minutes the other day, and these little beauties were too sweet to leave behind.


It’s a set of four little bread plates, 6 inches in diameter, and I scored them for 25 cents each.


They all have the same markings on the bottom, but I like the variation in the patterns from plate to plate, like the different widths of the brown stripe around the edges (seen above).  Two of them have strawberries and leaves that are deeper in color, and two are lighter in hue, as if they’ve faded with time.  I like them both.




The marking on the bottom indicates they were made in Japan but there is no manufacturer listed.  Research shows an almost identical looking pattern made by Sheffied, also in Japan, but the marking on them is printed inside a strawberry shape.  It appears that they’re probably from the 80’s.


This is the kind of thrifting I can still feel good about.  I spent only $1.00 and with so many young children in our home, small plates are constantly in use.  I like having mis-matched salad and bread plates to use with my all-white dinner plates.  It’s a pretty way to mix things up.


Now all we need is strawberries and cream!

Hopeful Homemaker

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One Step Report #27

One Step

July is in full swing at our house.  The flags are still out and will remain that way throughout the month.  In some ways it feels like summer’s just begun.  We’re in that sacred month which is, at last, unscheduled by the world.  So much of the year is like a paint by number experience:  the lines are all drawn with schedules and commitments and it is only up to us to determine how well we color it in.  Summer days are different, like a blank canvas waiting for brush and paint.  We’ve got more scheduled activities than I’d prefer, but for the most part we’re rolling with them well and enjoying a lot of down time.  I love it.


This week’s report:  79 steps.   Works for me.
Highlights:

1.  I’m trying hard to edit the THINGS we have in our home.  I want to take care of people, not stuff.  This week I hit an area in the basement.  I think I’m slowly succeeding, for I’m finding more time to play with my children.

2.  I made a concerted effort to hold my little ones more.  Several times I just sat down and waited to see what would happen.  Invariably I ended up with 3 little bodies climbing all over me (literally).  It was wonderful.

3.  Reading, reading, reading.  We’re all doing a lot of it.  I had the sweetest experience today with a grouchy four year old and Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are .

4.  I resisted the urge to crack down on the state of the toy room, and am glad I did.   As the week wore on I found that my children fell into a heartwarming play experience together.  With their ages spanning from baby to teenager, it is uncommon now that they all find a meeting place, but somehow that happened this week.  I wouldn’t trade it for the cleanest toy room in the world.

5.  I spent an evening watching my daughter’s soccer practice while the little ones ran in the grass.  It was one of those nights when she discovered an instant aptitude for each new drill introduced, and she enjoyed a lot of praise.  Not only was it fun to watch her shine in practice, but I also found myself being renewed by observing the evening sun as it cast rays of sunlight across the shining hair and faces of my little ones.  I hope never to forget the sight of my daughter sprinting for the sprinklers.  The beauty of it made me catch my breath and feel so grateful that I paused to soak it in.

6.  In a search for a quote I’d lost, I re-read several of Abigail Adams’ letters.  What a treasure they are!

7.  As I look back on the week, each day held a particular lesson or insight for me personally and as a mother.  I’m particularly grateful for those moments, and grateful that I paused to record them.   While some of them will take time to produce real fruit, there is already a feeling of victory in my heart, a fresh reminder of this powerful lesson I pondered early in the week.

I am excited for a new week to begin, and look forward to all the surprises it will hold.  I hope yours is great!

Jennifer

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Eleven Months

Musings on Life and Beauty

Today my baby is 11 months old.


I set aside time this morning before church to take some pictures.  We went outside and she did this.


She’s got three new teeth in her mouth this morning, and by 9 a.m. it had already been a long day.


The only time she was cheerful was when her big sister joined her and their backs were to me.


Some things I want to remember about her at this age:

She loves to squat on her feet, then stand up in the middle of the room (instead of climbing up on something and then letting go) She’s taken 4 steps on her own.
She likes to steal her sister’s passa.
Yesterday morning she woke up saying “ma ma da da” in her crib.  So cute!
She’s amazing on her knees.  She can rotate from knees to feet and turn in a complete circle with her hands in the air.  I’ve never seen anything like it.
She loves to kneel, sitting on her heels and then bounce.  She can get her body completely off the floor by bouncing too hard.
She hasn’t met a food she doesn’t like.
She still likes to lay her head on my shoulder.  Now she puts one arm up around my neck and gives me a big squeeze at the same time.
She can sit in a “v” when she’s in the grass, with arms and legs up to avoid being pricked.
She loves being in the bath, and especially likes to stick her head under the faucet.


She’s a cutie, even when she’s hurting.

Hopeful Homemaker

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