It begins...

A friend recently forwarded an email to me titled "The Invisible Mother," a short essay comparing the tireless and often thankless job of a mother to the builders of Europe's great cathedrals. Both give their whole lives for a work they will never see finished, both make sacrifices and expect no credit, and both are fueled in their passion by the faith that the eyes of God see every detail. The writer of the essay was inspired by the thought that our endless efforts in motherhood, invisible as they may seem, are worth it and can make an enriching life.


For many of us, the way we choose to hold our invisibility at bay is by creating something tangible. For me, my days often end with knitting - my love of fiber and the need to do something relaxing end up producing something I can hold and look at. Nobody will know how many times I swept under the high chair that day, or how many toys I picked up, or how many times I tried to coax a "please" or "more" or "sorry" out of my 5 year old. But a darling, handmade infant hat? That you can see.


I start new projects every day, and my 10 year old does the same. In this process of creating (and yes, often not finishing our projects!) we connect with each other and a bigger picture of ourselves in the process. My plan for this blog is to share the projects that excite me and bring some accessible proof of my existence in this invisible world of mothering!


So, this blog is dedicated to the mothers out there whose days are filled with the minutia of tasks that build our children and our families. I often tell people that I haven't decided what I want to be when I grow up. But for now, I am the builder of a great cathedral. With every shoelace tied, lunch packed, and forehead kissed, I build.


And I can hardly wait to create something new...


Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Father's Day

We let Daddy sleep in this morning, and while the girls camped out in front of some morning TV, I finished knitting the Afghans vest. I managed to get it blocked this afternoon, and have cast on for a second sweater. It was so easy, and knitted up so fast - I will probably make 3 or 4 before I ship them off. Totally awesome way to use leftover yarn stash!
After Brad got up, Rowan and I made a whole wheat pancake breakfast - Rowan cut up the strawberries and bananas on her own!
We then took a family bike ride, and after lunch did some work in the yard. Unfortunately, all the sunflower seed shells from the bird feeder have killed some grass and needed to be dealt with. A friend with the same issue recommended we rake it loose, then shop-vac as much as we can up. We'll need to plant new grass seed there in the fall, and from now on we're going to try Safflower seeds, which have no shells and apparently are not liked by the grackels which have overrun our feeder!
Rowan approached me yesterday with a book of crafts she's had in her room for years, and told me there was a craft in it that she'd been wanting to do for a long time - a cat-faced pillow. We looked through the list of what we needed and were in luck - except for an old white pillowcase. We have old green ones, but that didn't do it for Rowan. So, we dug into her sewing basket for a hunk of white muslin and make our own, small-sized pillowcase first!
Once the pillowcase was made, Rowan got to work designing the cat's face. She did a trial run on paper towels first, and then the real thing...
This afternoon the paint was dry, so we put the rubberbands on to make the ears, and Rowan tied off the bottom with some yarn.
Here's the happy girl with her new pillow to snuggle!
We're off to treat Daddy to a hamburger somewhere, and then some go-cart racing to top off his Father's Day. Would it be too dorky to knit while he and the girls go on rides?  Hmmm....
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1 comment:

  1. KathyJune 19, 2011 at 4:59 PM

    HOW FUN to read your post! It sparkled up my day, as did a phone call from Meredith! Love the sweater vest, the cat-face pillow and all the shots of activities at your house! Happy Father's Day!

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