Quilting and depression...

finished - after seven years

When I was twenty I had my first run in with depression. I was a student at Texas A&M University and every Tuesday and Thursday would drive by a little quilt shop on the way to one of my off-campus education classes.

One afternoon I walked in and three old ladies taught me how to quilt. They started me with a five and a half inch log cabin block. If I had known anything about quilting - I would eased in a little bit and chosen a larger block with less detail. I pieced it with a machine and then hand-stitched every seam on this queen sized quilt. It took me seven years.

this weeks work...

In those seven years, a lot of life happened. I graduated from college, got married, worked, traveled, moved across the country, bought a house, had a baby... a million joys and sorrows filled the space between.

Thankfully my depression passed long before I put the final stitches on this quilt. It will always be my favorite... partly because it took me SO VERY LONG to finish. But mostly because it reminds me to be hopeful... and know that seasons change.

I have found that (subconsciously) sewing often ends up being the thing I do when I am feeling sad. This week I did a lot of sewing. Someone we love dearly lost her father quite suddenly. I made blankets - reflecting on the brevity of life and feeling heartsick for a friend.

Grilled Naan

Grilled Naan is a long time favorite in our family. Ben and I started making it  shortly after we bought our first home in 2005. It was a cheap and delicious addition to many of our meals together. 

It takes a bit of time... mix the ingredients, knead the dough, let it rise, roll it out, brush the oil, grind the salt, grill the naan... but the first warm bite makes it worth the effort.

When we are eating Naan on a somewhat regular basis, I know that life is running at a good speed. We had a long run of naan-less meals... it's nice to be grilling again.

Movie night...

One of our longest standing rituals is family movie night. It is the night that we make pizza, leave our dishes on the counter and sit down with popcorn to watch a movie together. Most of the time it is just our crew, but every now and then we have friends that join us.

We used to be Oville Redenbacher poppers... but in NZ we pop our own corn. The microwave variety is a bit too pricey for my taste... It is really good (when I don't burn it) and it reminds me of my childhood. win. win.

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The Ritual & Routine Section

I love adventure and sometimes wish that my days were sprinkled with a bit more spontaneity... but usually, I am content with the fact that my life is (for the most part) an elaborate series of rituals and routines.

The ritual & routine section of this blog is a celebration of those things... the time-honored traditions and the daily habits that define our family.

In the wise words of Annie Dillard "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives"

Journaling... and why I make my kids do it

Every morning my kids wake up and sit down to write in their journal... because I make them do it. Most of the time they don't hate me for it.  It is a habit that they will likely drop like a hot potato as soon as they leave for college (or whenever I decide to stop making them do it). But for now, it is pretty much a house rule. If you want to have breakfast and watch tv, you have to do your journal entry (and help make your lunch). Pretty hard core... I know.

The #1 reason why I make my kids journal... 
I think it is valuable. No one captures my thoughts on the topic more completely than Andi Ashworth. In her beautiful essay The Work of Love. Andi talks about how she was inspired to keep written accounts of her daily life after inheriting some of her grandmother’s diaries. "By keeping track of her daily life, she gave a cheerful dignity to all the particulars.

The second reason why I make my kids journal...  
"We all have our version of the details" (a quote from The Work of Love). My kids are each experiencing our life together in a different way... and as their mom, I am curious about their experience. It is very easy to forget that we are more than a family unit... there are six individuals in our crew with very different personalities, preferences, frustrations and passions. Journals remind me to be aware.

The third reason why I make my kids journal...
I don't scrapbook and have a terrible track record with baby books. I love the idea of having something tangible that I can pass along as a reminder of childhood. It is sort of a "do it yourself" keepsake... not very sentimental but practical.

The final (and most important) reason why I make my kids journal...
It is a good medium for communication. I can ask questions, make comments, and start a dialog about what is going on in their life. Every few days, to break up the monotony, I put a card on the table. Instead of writing about what happened the day before, the kids answer the question on the card. It can be a great way to (sneakily) get some insight into their hearts and lives without putting them on the spot or drawing attention to a particular issue.

If you like the idea of journaling, but aren't ready to go full-on... this book can be a great starting point for dinner time conversation. Happy journaling!

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Tea time... one bowl, no butter

In New Zealand we have morning and afternoon "tea"... which basically means that my kids expect higher quality snacks on a more regular basis. Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines haven't made there way to this side of the world so people actually make cake, brownies and muffins from scratch... all the time!

I enjoy baking and am thankful to have the time to do it... but I have two pet peeves - clean up and melting butter. No surprise on the clean up part... I don't really know what my deal is with butter. In this country we don't have nice soft margarine sticks that are labeled with the proper English measurements. The butter is a hard block labeled in grams... and I just can't be bothered with it.

So I have been strategically hunting down one bowl recipes that don't call for butter. Here are two of my favorites that can be mixed up and in the oven, quick as a wink. Easy blueberry muffins and One bowl chocolate cake on the chocolate cake I use a very basic powdered sugar icing (I never measure, just guess and test).

I was inspired by the blue and purple cupcake holders in my multi-pack and decided to whip up a little post training snack for the Sulphur City Steam Rollers. Go team!

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Some thoughts on skipping a major holiday

Yesterday was a quiet, normal day at our house
(quiet and normal are relative terms).

We woke up and followed our morning routine, the big kids went to school and the little kids napped... and I celebrated Thanksgiving vicariously via facebook.

I love traditions and hate to "miss the party"... but strangely enough, it wasn't a devastating day for me. It actually felt like a bit of a luxury to take a pass on a major holiday.

This year, I am grateful for the time and space to appreciate the little things in life...

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Library day

The library is a great place...
I love going there alone... and with one kid... sometimes with two kids... with three kids it becomes stressful... and with four kids it is painful.

I will count it as a great victory on the day that I can quietly walk in and out of a library with all four of my children and my pride intact... but until then we will have library day at home.

Library day at our house goes like this...
* I go to the library by myself or with 1 to 2 kids.
* pick a bunch of books on a variety of topics
* line the books up on the floor
* watch what the kids like reading
* refine selection for next time

The "lining-up-of-the-books" is a new and exciting addition to library day... I think my meager attempt to recreate the "library feel" goes a long way in the eyes of my 6 and 7 year old. Max has a new favorite genre - comic books.
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Light the night... a celebration

Our boxes were packed, the walls were bare and I was second guessing our decision (a very familiar feeling at that point).

We colored and hung signs on the bare walls, the kids decorated the table and I prepared a very fancy meal of hotdogs, fruit salad, Capri Suns, and Doritos. 

Several months prior, I bought sky lanterns for our special neighbor trip to Black Water Falls... but as it turned out, densely forested state parks are not the best place to release fire balls into the sky. Everyone was very disappointed.

So we made up a special occasion and called it our "light the night party". After our gourmet meal everyone got their pajamas on and we drove to our neighborhood park.

We tossed the frisbee until it got dark, lit the lanterns and smiled as they floated away. It was special.

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Gardening with my fourth child

A few observations...

*  I am taking pictures while my child
    eats dirt.

*  "Gardening" did not actually happen
     on this particular day

*  This is my fourth child... and there
    are a lot of things I just don't care
    about any more.

*  Clothing and children are washable.

Disclaimer - I did have to change a particularly gritty diaper this morning... but they all look the same after 13,800 (a rough estimate on the number of diapers I have changed to date). Jonah's bottom was a bit raw - but nothing a little miracle cream couldn't take care of.  
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5 minute artisan bread

In 2005 I boarded my first international flight for two months in Kigoma, a small town in Western Tanzania.

There weren't any traditional grocery stores and I didn't speak any Swahili... meat came from the butcher on the side of the road, veggies from the bartering ladies at the market, and baking items from a small shop in "town".

At the time my repertoire of meals was about as "limited" as my ability to communicate in Swahili... it was sink or swim.

I must have inherited a bit of prowess from my home ec teaching mother, because I quickly fell in love with the dailyness (and adventure) of making a home in Africa.

Baking bread was a tradition I swore I would keep, when we came back to the States. I haven't baked much bread since 2005 - turning a new leaf here in New Zealand... it smells great.

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