needle & thREAD

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Most of my "sewing" this week has been of the lace/sequin/tulle type. And it's not really sewing; it's more "rigging." When  you measure and order costumes months in advance, there's a good chance lots of them won't fit at showtime. Time doesn't stand still and little girls grow (big girls do, too). I've seen lots of sizes and shapes in the same costumes in the past couple weeks and it has me thinking about those all too familiar themes. One of the reasons we made a dramatic change in studios last year was I was super concerned about emotional balance. We've found it here, I think. But, oh my! What a lot of work the whole wardrobe thing is:-) Well worth the tradeoff to be surrounded by healthy bodies of all shapes and sizes.

Karoline has organized our sewing box to take on the road. The girls have a dance competition in Baltimore this weekend. We're ready to go and I'm here to tell you that packing for dance is very different from packing for soccer:-). Quite an education I've gained this spring. Soccer was a good warmup; packing for dance is not for the faint of heart.

I've been promising Karoline I'd sew with her "for real"--promising for about three weeks. Sigh. Life is rocking and rolling here, folks. Sewing keeps getting shoved. As Karoline gets older, I notice more and more how "spirited" she is. She flits; she floats. For the most part, we've just smiled at her along the way. But as she gets older and, say, she is called to pay attention to a dance for a whole three minutes, we're noticing how easily distracted she is. We've been down this road before--I'm determined to apply what I've learned. Reading? I'm dusting off my favorite parenting book: Raising Your Spirited Child. I'm also doing a great deal of research on essential oils. We've always dabbled with these-- little lavender on the sheets, eucalyptus with Espom salts in the tub, tea tree oil for almost everything else. Now I'm seeing how essential oils might be helpful in lots of other ways, including focus and anxiety and hyperactivity.

Back to the sewing promise. Karoline was flitting all over the house this morning. There is a pre-competition pep rally in 7 hours and 13 minutes (who's counting, right?). She's so excited she cannot contain herself. Mike is working from home. He required complete quiet for a conference call. Um. "Karoline, how 'bout we go in the sewing room and close the door?" The only way to quiet her is to have her focused and on my lap. We made a cover for her new journal (inspired by the Junie B. Jones books). Just a few straight seams and she sighed happily, "Oh, I love that feel! Don't you love the way you feel when the sewing machine is humming and fabric is in your hands?"

Yes, my sweetheart, I do. And I'm grateful it calms us both.

What are you sewing and reading this week? I really do want to hear all about it!

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link.

needle & thREAD

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These days, I'm "sewing" dance costumes. I use the term loosely, because really, I'm rigging alterations and hoping there are no wardrobe malfunctions. Karoline has exploded into reading the Junie B. Jones books. She requires someone to sit next to her and help quite a bit still, so that's what I've got to show for my reading this week. Because of Junie B. and her journal, Karoline wants to start a journal of her own. I've promised her we'll make a cover for a composition book either today or tomorrow (something like mine). And I promise you I'll take pictures along the way so you have a  tutorial.

What are you sewing and reading this week? I really do want to hear all about it!

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link.

needle & thREAD & a whole lot of reading about eating

 

Hello! Some sewing actually happened around here! Honestly, it was so nice to get back to it, to feel that wonderful fabric and to smell steam rising from crisp creases. I don't know what took me so long. I'm ready to binge on sewing again.

I made those Easter dresses. Well, actually, I did deviate from the plan. Instead of the Fairytale dresses, I went with the simpler Family Reunion dresses. I still love the Fairytale dress, but I didn't quite have the time or energy to commit. 

My girlies are quite pleased with their dresses. They looked so sweet Easter Sunday and these dresses are simple enough to get lots of every day wear all spring and summer. Again, I'm thrilled with the Oliver + S attention to detail. My friend Cari came over to help me with the dresses and she'd never sewn with Oliver + S previously. I think she was really impressed at the quality and clarity compared to other patterns.

Incidentally, someone asked why tracing is necessary. The way these patterns are printed, it is absolutely necessary to trace if you want to sew more than one size. The sizes overlap each other and it would be impossible to cut one without destroying another. After I trace a pattern, I store each size individiually in a ziploc bag. So, tracing is only necessary the first time. After that, it's a much simpler process. I definitely think I'll sew these dresses again, so all that tedious tracing time will have exponential benefits.

I've been reading about a bazillion nutrition books. Everyone has a slightly different angle on the ultimate "anti-inflammatory diet." I've been reading and researching deeply from the vegan end to the paleo end, considering absolutely eveything in between. It's sort of astonishing how many well-respected and well-credentialed people can have such passionate convictions about the same topic and come to such widely disparate conclusions. So, do I have one book to recommend? Um, no. Not really. Do I feel like I've wasted time reading so many? No. Well, maybe. 

I guess the thing is that I didn't really learn anything new. I've spent eight weeks taking Heather's Whole Food Kitchen workshop and reading extensively on my own and I didn't really add to my nutrition knowledge at all. I already knew how to organize a kitchen, plan menus, shop in a wholesome way. I've been feeding real food to a dozen people, more or less, around my table on a daily basis for quite some time now. I was reading nutrition books when some of the people who are writing new ones now were wee babes. Laurel's Kitchen and Moosewood philosophy framed my kitchen for years. And Mollie Katzen is often in my ear in the kitchen. I've been researching the best anti-cancer diet since--well--since before I had cancer. And that was nearly a quarter century ago.

What I learned from my experience of Heather's class is to stop looking for a person or a science to nail exactly what I should eat to prevent disease and enhance quality of life. What I've discovered as I've weighed one theory against another and kept a food diary is that I need to start trusting myself. I need to listen to my body and have a little confidence that it will tell me what's best for me. 

So, for anyone interested in {very} a broad nutrition education, here's the reading list.

It Starts with Food

Practical Paleo 

Everyday Paleo

Paleo Comfort Foods

(The paleo books are now living at Kristin's for awhile. I still highly recommend them. It was just time to pass them along for a bit.  Ironically, since passing them along, I have noticed that Kristin's Instagram food pictures are suddenly very vegetarian.)

The China Study

Super Immunity

True Food

Eating Well for Optimum Health

(Andrew Weil has long been an influence. His anti-inflammatory pyramid makes pretty good sense. I can't do grains quite the way he prescribes, but he's a good guy;-)

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (always a good go-to for gardening inspiration. Might be an annual March must-read)

The Omnivore's Dilemma

Food Rules {Herein lies the simplest strategy of all: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants}

unDiet I think this one is a good concept and her blog is probably worth a gander, but the book felt really unorganized to me. It's conversational and sort of bloggy sounding and might just try too hard to be hip and cute. Or maybe I'm just old... Still, I found myself copying parts of it to hand to certain offspring (who would have been put off by the "pinkness" of the book) and I really liked the section on cosmetics. Seriously, girls, what have we been rubbing on our skin and allowing to seep into our bodies?

Clean Cuisine. I liked this one. It drove me crazy that the authors include corn with vegetables and not grains and then really missed how ubiquitous corn is. But all in all, I like this one. 

{The raw milk books are not here. My experience with the milk philosophy and "traditional" foods was by far the most miserable physical and emotional three years ever. Milk is not for me.I've read those books, lived that diet. Not revisiting. No milk. Never.}

Also not read: Crazy Sexy Diet and MILF Diet. Both sound intriguing, based on descriptions and recommendations from people who've read them. But I live in a house with lots of people and, honestly, both sound offensive. I couldn't leave them on the kitchen counter for my grab-a-minute-or-two style of reading.I'm not a big fan of profanity. I think it's unprofessional in a published work and frankly, I think we can do better vocabulary-wise. There are so many great words from which to choose; let's challenge ourselves to express the best way possible. In the case of the latter book, I admit I had to check Urban Dictionary for the acronym. Then, I had to wonder. Did no one involved in the naming of this book understand that women likely to read it are of the age that they are mothers of teenaged boys? And then, what were they thinking? That the moms would want the book hanging out for their sons to spot? And that that exchange wouldn't be incredibly awkward for both of them? This is just weird. 

And there is definitely weirdness to be experienced in the foodie world. Lots of different lifestyles and philosophies intersect. Many people, from many different walks of life want to eat well for their own health and the health of the planet. I think we have much to learn from one another. I do offer this caveat: if you are a reader who is offended when the author's lifestyle or faith or political perspective doesn't match yours exactly, you might not want to read through the books I've listed above. But if you like to glean wisdom from the people you bump into at the Farmer's Market, that's a rockstar list of books.

I'm eager to see your Easter and springtime sewing and to hear what you're reading (and eating?)! Please a leave a link and let me know what you've been up to! I promise to re-vist the combox (and to follow links to your blogs) frequently in the next couple days if you want to talk food. Or fabric. Or both.

What are you sewing and reading this week? I really do want to hear all about it!

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link.

Gathering my Thoughts

{{I got a new camera the day before Easter. I haven't clicked it once, yet, but Mary Beth played with it yesterday. All pictures above are hers and are entirely unedited.}}

I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

My garden is overrun with weeds all of a sudden. I am hopeful that warm weather this week will beckon us outdoors to make it all tidy.

::listening to 

birds chirping. And chirping and chirping. I awoke to that sound. Seems appropriate for Easter Monday.

::clothing myself in 

Christmas pajamas and a UVa sweatshirt. I was cold last night. Whatever works, right?

::talking with my children about these books

I chose three of the girls' favorite books for their Easter baskets. These were books that they couldn't bear to return to the library.

For Karoline, it was Mossy. This is the first full book she's read all by herself. It's lovely. I am very fond of Jan Brett's books and this one is my favorite. Karoline told Kristin yesterday that "It's a nature story, but it's a love story. And there's drawing in it, too." What more can you ask for? And what does it say about my girls that they get all starry-eyed and romantic over a love story about turtles?

For Sarah, I chose Cinderella. This version is a 1955 Caldecott winner. The language is rich and nourishing. (For instance I had to explain that the "haughtiest woman" was not the "hottiest woman." My little girls live with five big brothers. That's all I can offer by way of explaining that confusion.) Sarah absolutely loves this book and much prefers this version to the Disney version, though she is definitely campaigning for this video. She likes the songs. Hard to argue with that.

For Katie, I got The Penderwicks. This book is Mary Beth's all-time favorite book. Her copy is the original paperback. And it's falling apart. When she saw that it had been republished in a beautiful, hardbound deckle edge version, she begged one for Katie. As I write though, I'm wondering why I didn't get two. Mary Beth has often said that this series is one she wants to keep forever. Hmmm...

::thinking and thinking

About renewal and Lent and how it all played out this year.

::pondering prayerfully

So this is the invitation which I address to everyone: Let us accept the grace of Christ’s Resurrection! Let us be renewed by God’s mercy, let us be loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of his love to transform our lives too; and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish. ~~ Pope Francis

::carefully cultivating rhythm

I have no rhythm. I've been trying to find it the entire school year. First, there were renovations (of home and heart) and wedding planning. Then, advent and a wedding. Then we worked the gym into the winter rhythm and didn't drop anything else. We have had two bouts of the flu. (The kind that tests positive in the doctor's office. Thank the Lord for Tamiflu.) There was college kid spring break that didn't coincide with my planned spring break. Then there was neighborhood kid spring break; again, not with my spring break. And now it's nearly Bluebell Week, which actually is my spring break. 

There is one common thread. With every wave of rhythm disruption, I've dropped more time in front of the screen. There is only one social media app on my phone and I'm flirting with the idea of dropping Instagram, too, except I do really like it. My Facebook time is nearly nil and after a brief little foray into conversation yesterday, I'm remembering why I've so drastically reduced it. Ain't nobody got time for that.

I like to blog, though. I like to have a pretty place to capture memories and think thoughts. However, with screen time super scarce, I find myself rarely reading blogs. I check in a few times a week and read blogs of good friends and that's about it. And I wonder, can one have a place in a blogging community if she rarely communes? I've never been very good at hanging out with the cool kids. I don't really like a crowd. It's taken me a long time to recognize that one can easily place herself in a crowd online, without even really recognizing it, until suddenly she's overwhelmed by the voices. I remember Amy Welborn once wondered aloud about introverts and homeschooling. She really got me thinking. At the time, I think I had eight children and they were all at home all day long. It had never occured to me that the people in my own house were ruffling my introverted feathers. But her musing raised my consciousness. Now, I wonder, is there a place online for those of us who are Quiet? And if a house full of children are zapping an introvert's energy, can she possibly allow herself to get online and expose herself to more noise?  How does that work into what is preferably a quiet rhythm?

::creating by hand

Easter dresses. More on those on Thursday. And an unfinished Tiny Tea Leaves sweater, one that would have been just perfect for Katie yesterday, but didn't get finished. More on that, too, no doubt.

::learning lessons in

Food. For real. Heather’s class has me thinking and re-thinking. I’m definitely tweaking hard.  I tend to learn by total immersion and I’ve been reading incessantly. The problem is that reading about whole foods is always about two clicks away from reading about cancer. And reading about cancer is about a click from reading about late effects of chemo and radiation. And that's a really bad rabbit trail for me to travel. One can overthink food. I just did. 

::encouraging learning 

A happy not-spring-break learning lovely: Mary Beth's friend Morgan hung out around our house during the public high school's spring break last week. She gathered everyone into an impromptu reading/production of "Midsummer Night's Dream." The boys and even the littlest girls were all into the story together.  Love it when things like that happen.

There will be a decided shift in the next few weeks. We've wrapped up our writing courses for the year. I'm going to hyperfocus on math and nature study. My kids will be thrilled about the latter. The former? Recently overheard from the "magic" corner of the sunroom, where the dollhouse and fairy treehouse live: "And then my father died and the evil stepmother made me do math!"

Prevailing sentiment not withstanding, I have a math plan.

::begging prayers

For the repose of the soul of Kristin's grandfather.  Also, of my friend Katherine's grandmother, who died yesterday. May the peace of the resurrection comfort those who grieve.

::keeping house

The Triddum found me filling prescriptions for Tamiflu, racing to get BIG buckets to put under the gaping hole in the living room ceiling, answering a frantic early morning phone call when my father-in-love hit a deer in the dark, sending my best help off on a trip to Pittsburgh to see Paddy play (Mike and his dad, Mary Beth driving!), amazing seats at the Elite Eight (not me, two lucky boys), driving back and forth to every Triduum service so that healthy boys could serve, trying to finish that sweater, and shopping and cooking for dinner for twenty. None of it was as I pictured. I fell exhausted into bed last night, but I learned that there really is a rather wide, forgiving margin for imperfection when it comes to celebrating holidays. Who knew?

::crafting in the kitchen 

Leftovers. Oh, how we have leftovers! I will reinvent Easter dinner for a week. (Oh, and there were some memorable chocolate mustaches;-)

::loving the moments

when we fill the whole pew at church, but only because the "overflow" is serving at the altar and Sarah is asleep on Mike's lap, otherwise, we'd need to spill into another row.

::giving thanks 

for sunshine.

living the liturgy

We're focusing on Divine Mercy.

Easter is a season. My intention is to live it as such. Throw open the windows; let light flood our lives. He is risen! And we, too, can run and leap and shout for joy:-). So let's get after that...

::planning for the week ahead

Ballet and soccer are in full swing. The driving demands do not all fit. They just don't. My first task today is to figure out a way to get everyone where he or she needs to be. And then, I need to find a way to be sure that I work out, too. And to find time to write. And now we're back to that rhythm thing again. My plan is to go outside and weed the garden and talk to God about it all and hope He answers loudly. 

Instagram recap:

There's Nothing Like a Library

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When I was little, the library was a big part of every day life. We moved around a lot, but I can still see the library in every town where we lived. Each of those buildings gave structure to my formation. Every dusty shelf, every old table, that musty, ivy covered smell of the library on Charleston Air Force Base still stand sharp in my  mind. I was there during the seventh and eighth grade. My father challenged me to read every book in the young adult section. I rose to the challenge. Every single volume.

When the three big boys were little, I took them faithfully to the library in our hometown, the same library where Mike’s mom found me the morning after he and I had had an epic argument during college. She spotted my car in the parking lot, went inside, offered her undiluted perspective, and changed the course of my life. In the library. It was also in that library that I first read about homeschooling.

When we moved west to our new hometown, the library was about 40 minutes away. I wasn’t daunted. I packed those little boys and my pregnant belly and we went to the sweet, beautiful library in Purcelville. My dear friend Leah was the manager there, so library day was a chance for me to visit a little and get a book fix. After that baby arrived though, and our homeschool co-op was in the opposite direction of the library, more often than not, I just called Leah with a list and she brought me books.

A little while later, a library opened a bit closer. I was game to pack five kids (or was it six by then?) into the car for the half hour ride to the library. The first day there, as I was trying to keep everybody still and quiet in the checkout line, Librarian One sighed loudly to Librarian Two, “Now we are going to have all these people from South Riding at this branch. We don’t have a circulation to support that.” I have no idea if it was coincidence or if she knew I was from South Riding. I just know we never returned.

And Amazon has been our friend (and our nemesis) ever since. We have a formidable home library.

Late last month, a new library opened five minutes from my house. A beautiful, amazing new library. And we were there. Oh, were we there!

I got a sneak preview before the opening, met my friend Megan there for a tour for educators. We might have gotten lost for a few minutes back in the cookbooks.

The children counted down the days until it was their turn. We began our day at home with a thorough reading of B is for Bookworm, every detail, sidebar, and rabbit trail was carefully considered. I discussed the nuances of the library and quizzed my kids to be sure they knew what they were doing and how it all worked.

They were blown away.

This library is astonishing! Every book in the library is brand new. All those unbroken spines! The children’s section alone is larger than that library where people from my town are not welcome. There is a dedicated Teen Room (no adults allowed??), a quiet room (because the rest of the library isn’t expected to be quiet), banks of computers, an eating area, and super cool self-checkout stations. Set in the wetlands, the outdoor theme has been brought inside, so the interior flows beautifully into the huge picture windows and back to the nature outdoors. We’ve been there four times in the last two weeks. Because we can.

After spending a couple hours at the library the first time, Nicholas reluctantly walked with me to the car. “I think I know what I want to be when I grow up. A librarian. I just want to stay here all day. Every day.”