Bluebells in the Rain

I couldn't wait any longer. We headed out to Bull Run today to see the bluebells. And--surprise, surprise--we had the whole place to ourselves. It was a rainy, muddy mess.

There were just a few moments when it wasn't even drizzling.

I tried to fit some knitting into those. Didn't go so well. Too cold.

The creeks are wider and deeper and moving faster than I've ever seen them. This picture doesn't do it justice.

We discovered a skeleton. We're researching now. Would you like to help us identify this creature? Leave a comment. We're glad to have someone with whom to play "Bones."

So much for the fairytale bluebell pictures, huh?

More tomorrow when the sun shines.

Yarn Along: How Many Sweaters before Easter?

This week, I finished Chloe sweater #3, a striped shrug for Karoline. I knit it with Spud and Chloe sweater weight yarn, which is the yarn for which the pattern was written. The yarn is really wonderful. The stitches are so pretty and the colors are amazing. Mike is bemused as I sit here at night, alternating between knitting and researching yarn. He wishes he could be as excited about yarn as I am. I just about have him convinced to go to this fiber fair (okay, so I think the name of it caught his interest). We have to see about working it in around soccer. He reminds me that years ago he tried to convince me to move to New Zealand and I told him there were too many sheep there. I'd be wheezing all the time. So, maybe a fiber fair isn't a great idea. Sounds fun, though (except for the breathing part).

Back to the sweater:  I thought the yarn was causing me major allergy issues long about Thursday. But as the rest of my family has fallen victim to the same ailments, I am re-thinking my allergy diagnosis. We'll see. I have more S & C stashed away and I may bring myself to give it one more try before deciding the wool content was making me feel sick. In the meantime, I've ordered some Bue Sky Alpacas 100% cotton for the next Chloe (#6), to see how it compares. The only cotton I've ever knit is dishcloth cotton; hopefully, this is not that.

My mom bought these Hanna dresses for the girls last month. I love the way the Spud & Chloe stripes look with Hanna's colors. And Karoline was pleased.

I have cast on two more of the same shrug (#4 and #5) this week. (Obsession anyone?) One, I only did through the set up and puffed sleeve rows. It's winging it's way to Canada where a mama will make a sweater for her own curly girl with eyes of blue. That little girl's sweater will match Karoline's blue cashmere shrug which is on its way here from Elizabeth's. My girls are really loving this game of spinning and knitting and sharing (and shrugging). The other is a wee baby one in pink. More on that next week. Still no buttons on any of my sweaters. I'm waiting to see how Elizabeth did it and then I promise to summon up the courage to do mine. Karoline's really needs buttons.

For the most part, the reading is the same. I did do a little tiny hop off the Lenten  reading path to take a look at my friend Suzie Andres' new book, A Little Way of Homeschooling. On Sunday, I treated myself to just the chapters written by Suzie. Suzie is a personal friend who is as warm and genuine and real as people get. I was eager to "hear" her voice as she reflects on two topics which have long been her passions: The Little Way of St. Therese and unschooling. Suzie's gentleness resonates throughout her chapters and inspires some beautiful things in my mama heart. (Sorry, no book picture as I have already handed it off.)

I expect that both blogging and knitting will be light the next few days: it's bluebell time. Be sure to stop by and visit Ginny and see what other folks are knitting and reading. It's a enough to make a girl twirl with joy.

 {Comments are open: it's fun to talk knitting:-)}

Small Steps Together: Mother Courage

I think back to those times: a little girl undergoing one surgery after another to construct an ear that was never there; a young mother facing chemotherapy and uncertainty; a mother of many warned by doctors that she could die delivering the baby she carried. In each instance, people commended my courage. But those weren't instances of courage to me. They were just doing what had to be done.

Courage was what I'd beg of God when I just couldn't keep breathing on my own, when my breath caught and I needed God just to exhale. Courage was my prayer when I let my teenagers go out into that great big world. What I wanted was to keep them home, hold them close, protect them forever. As my big boys began to march forth into life, they walked around with pieces of my heart inside of them. Suddenly, I was vulnerable. I saw that they were going to be hurt and I was going to watch them suffer. There was no way around it. They would make mistakes and get hurt. They would learn about what's out there in a fallen world, and get hurt. They would meet many, many people and some of them would hurt them. Nothing was ever so simple as it was when they were babies in my arms. Then, I could gather them up and soothe their hurts, chase away their fears, make every little thing “all better” just by my presence.  But as they grew, I found myself praying for courage. I began to understand that, for mothers, the heroic effort is in letting them go.

It's not so much that I wanted them to be little again. To want that would have been to wish away the beautiful people they had grown to be, to wish away years of loving and living together. No, instead, I wanted to be the mother I was when they were babies. I wanted the power to gather them on my lap and soothe them as I rocked. I wanted to shelter and protect and to be their whole world. I wanted to be able to ensure that their days were happy and healthy and holy. I wanted to cradle them in the protection of my arms. I wanted to love them with all my heart. And I wanted that to be enough. Instead, I must remember that for all their lives, my calling is to have the courage to love them, knowing that they will leave, and trusting that God will care for them more tenderly than I ever could.

Mothering older children takes courage, because just as sure as the sun will rise, so will there be trouble in the lives of our children. I am left to storm heaven on their behalf and to thank the Lord for the gift they are.I shore myself up for the years of mothering that lie ahead by reminding myself of the words of Blessed Mary MacKillop: Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them bravely, remembering Whom you are trying to follow. Do not be afraid. Love one another, bear with one another, and let charity guide you all your life. God will reward you as only He can. 

~republished from Small Steps Companion Journal

Small Steps focuses on courage this month. Would you share your thoughts with us, let us find you and walk with you? I'd be so grateful and so honored to have you as a companion. Please leave a link to your blog post below and then send your readers back here to see what others have said.You're welcome to post the Small Steps Together banner button also.

You're kidding;

John Paul II's feast is going to be October 22? Seriously?!

I about cried when Colleen broke the news.

~~~~~

Dear Karoline Rose, Nicholas Karol, and Matthew Christian John Paul,

You will now celebrate your name day on October 22. Yes, I do recognize that the stretch of time from September 29 to October 31 already has 6 birthdays and 5 feast days in our immediate family. And I do know that Mary Beth's birthday is the next day, giving us yet another back-to-back feast in the fall. I also know that I had been operating on the premature and erroneous assumption that John Paul II would be celebrated in the spring. Between February 17 and May 6, we've got nothing in the way of name days or birthdays. That feast seemed perfect. Perfect. But it is not to be.

I'm glad for the advance notice. I solemnly promise to the three of you that I will endeavor to make the day special, to set it apart from all the other special days that month. I promise.

And I'm beginning a perpetual novena now to find the stamina for the perpetual party that is October.

Love,

Mom

Bloggity Bigday Giveaway

On April 6, 2006, this blog made its first appearance. I was a very tentative blogger who was really talked into it by a friend, who also did my first blog design. I was newly pregnant (and very sick) with my sweet Karoline. I couldn't imagine ever having enough to say here.

Lots of things have changed since then and I'm surprised nearly every day by the serendipitous, grace-filled  adventures this full life offers and the way that blogging gives them voice.  I'm grateful for the lessons I've learned here. I'm grateful for the opportunity to create and share here.

In all honesty, I've struggled with what to write today, how to capture what this space has meant the last five years. I'll never forget sitting in the hospital with Mike the night Karoline was born, reading so many kind words and sweet prayers, feeling an overwhelming sense of good and community and friendship. Praise God there have been many such days since this blog began. Nor will I forget nights in front of this screen with tears streaming so fast that the painful words blurred and I could not even see to read. I drafted this post weeks ago (so that I wouldn't forget the whole anniversary thing) and left this part to finish today. And what has come to mind, over and over again, is "all good." All of it. Even the painful parts.

All good.

All I've learned--about books, and cooking, and nature, and knitting, and friendship, and God, and myself--all of it is for my good. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart (and home) for that good. Thank you for caring about me, about my family, about this place on the 'net.

To celebrate five years of publishing here, I'm hosting a giveaway. Or two. Or three.

Because knitting is the new passion, I'm giving away this darling knit and read book, Spud and Chloe at the Farm.

And

Small Steps for Catholic Moms

And

 

Real Learning

Leave a comment and let me know which one I can send you (Remember, comments are moderated, so it might take a little while foryou to see your comment appear.)  Winners to be announced on April 10.

And hey, thanks so much for dropping by so often. I'm happy and so grateful to share my heart and home with you.