Winter

We've had a quiet week at Matthew House since we returned last Monday.  The residents were still away visiting friends so we've had the place to ourselves.  We did do some bargain hunting this past weekend, looking for a used snowsuit for Isaiah.  It seems the 3-year-old has finally outgrown the size 2T suit we bought him three Winters ago.

Having the right gear for braving the cold makes enjoying the Winter months so much easier.  It takes a bit of work to convince the kids putting on all of those clothes is worth it once they get outside and still feel like it is cold.  It takes some running around, being silly, toboganning, snow-fort building, and tossing-into-powder-kind-of-play to teach them the cold is no big deal. I hope that by nurturing a love of Winter in the kids now will result in less whining, less fighting, more fresh air and bedtime sleepiness. And really, the 10 minutes it takes to get ready is small potatoes when you see how cute the kids look all bundled up.

We're also trying to teach the kids about God's gift of seasons.  That Winter has it's own smell, it's own activities, it's own rituals - like putting on the woolies.  Winter also gives us a few more things to be thankful for, like warm homes and hot chocolate.

Sometimes...

Sometimes when read blogs written by mamas who inspire me with their family values, projects, and parenting style, I get a bit jealous.  I feel restless for a place of our own.  I want space to parent without being within earshot of folks who have grown up in a place with different cultural parenting norms.  Sometimes I get restless for painting my kids' bedroom a colour that matches the mama-made quilts on their beds.  Sometimes I miss turning the music up really loud.  Sometimes I miss letting the kids dictate the pace or tasks of the day.  Sometimes I feel I don't have the opportunity to teach the kids about some of the things we value - like art and literature, creating things and giving them away.

But then I remember that we are living an opportunity to teach them about some of the other things we value - like having compassion for people, like being a team and trying to help each other when things are difficult, or frustrating, or confusing, like making do with less, and learning from others, and hopefully, doing all of these things to the glory of God.  It's hard to put things on the 'back burner' sometimes.  But when I look at what's cooking - well - I think it's worth it.

Special thanks to the Greynam Court, formerly know as State Street, formerly know as Viewmount Drive Home Church for the gift certificate for the two-night stay downtown.  Keith, the kids and I had a wonderful family getaway this past weekend.

The Pebble...

I always knit with the best of intentions.  I always intend to follow the pattern as it is written and fix mistakes as I go.  It seems, though, that there is a point of no return, where I am not going to go back and fix a mistake - I'm going to press on and finish the project.  And hence, we have The Pebble.  This sweater vest pattern was written for a 6-12 month old baby.  I wanted to knit it for Isaiah for Christmas so I made my first attempt at "upsizing".  I bought Lion Brand's Thick and Quick and 10mm circular needles and went for it.  I just knit the pattern as it was written, made almost no mistakes and got this:

A sweater vest that fit me. sort of.  It was certainly far too huge for Isaiah, and I knew this as I was knitting it.  I knew it was way bigger around than he needed - but by the time I got far enough to see this, I was past the point of no return.  So then I had this:

Because honestly, I wasn't going to wear this manly little vest.  It was a bit too short and shapless and bulky and although perfect for my 3-year-old - not at all becoming on me.

So now I have this, a baby cocoon for a soon-to-be-here boy and lots of green potential for those days when the white of winter seems to go on forever and I'm longing for Spring.

This Moment