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, August 7, 2011

Ready, set, FLUSH!

Apparently the stress of last week caught up to me, and Friday afternoon I pretty much ate my way through the kitchen. Not good. Stepping on the scale Saturday morning was ugly, and I decided it was high time to get things back on track. About once a year, Brad and I do a 2-week intensive liver cleanse/fat flush, so this morning we mixed up our magic potion (unsweetened diluted cranberry water with psyllium husks) and got to work. I hit the Vitamin Shoppe and Hy-Vee for the supplements and giant amounts of fresh veggies and proteins we will need. We've chopped and prepped and filled the fridge, and the Flush has officially started. Whew! Feeling good!


Yesterday, Brad and Rowan joined a Taekwondo school together, and came home with their new uniforms. They each had a patch that needed sewn on front, a task which of course fell to me. I lugged the sewing machine out this morning, said a prayer, and got those puppies sewn on. Not bad! I managed to keep them straight and flat!
Rowan is SO excited to start classes on Monday evening - she LOVES wearing her uniform, and also exclaimed that she can now write in Korean (she copied some wording from her handbook). Gung ho!

I have been trying to figure out what sort of gift to make for my Brownies as a welcome when we start the new year. It finally clicked that since I am using the Brownie Beanie shape for my kaper charts, I could make 16 little bitty beanies to give! Last year, I gave each girl a crocheted daisy with a clip on it - it was so heart warming to see how many of them actually clipped them to their school backpacks! This year they will have little brown beanies to clip on - with the instruction that every time they look at their beanie they can remember the 3 "C's" of scouting: Courage, Confidence, Character. Hope they love them!

Obviously, there is no pattern already out there for such a thing, so I enlisted my brilliant and crafty mother to construct one for me. She figured it out and emailed me the pattern she created. I've made 7 so far, and they are looking darling, if I do say so myself.
I've been trying to be sneaky and not make them around Rowan so that she'll be surprised, but she saw one partially done this morning and declared that it would make a perfect Barbie hat. Oops!

I have also been carefully working my way up the length of my lace scarf, one slow row at a time. Brynn's new favorite thing is to constantly have her feet on me. She gets right up next to me on the couch and gets her little flippers positioned perfectly to knock my knitting around, which makes lace work very tricky. Little turkey!
This coming week is our last stretch of summer vacation - hard to believe. Rowan and I need to make sure we have everything on her supply list and get her bag packed. We find out who her teacher is on the 11th! And of course with our new schedule and activities ready to launch, we found out this morning that the Verizon labor union is on strike, which means Brad heads into training asap and may get sent to God-knows-where to fill in as needed. This could be interesting!
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4 comments:

  1. The Knotty KnitterAugust 7, 2011 at 2:16 PM

    P.S. I actually remembered to take my camera to bunco the other night to take pictures of my gourmet finger foods...and forgot to take pictures. Doh!!

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  2. KathyAugust 7, 2011 at 10:27 PM

    Well, I bet the bunco foods were appreciated none-the-less!

    Your little brownie beanies are just perfect. Bet the girls will love'em. Wish my fridge looked like yours; clean and stocked with the RIGHT things. Charlotte and I buddying up at WW starting this week. She wants to rejoin and I need the buddy desperately.

    The flutter scarf looks lovely and I can't find that I have that pattern so thanks for the source. I am finished with the baby surprise jacket except for the buttons. Will send a picture soon.

    Now to decide what to make next!!

    Sure is fun to read your blog and to know what's up and share in your successes and busy, happy life. :)

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  3. MarieAugust 8, 2011 at 6:44 AM

    I love your blog! You are absolutely perfect, I must say! I love the write up at the top to introduce your blog - I must say that I have nothing clever to show for all the minutia in my life. :) Except for my kids.
    Thanks for being the best daisy/brownie leader for our girls. Maybe with these new brownie cap clips (which are adorable), Haley will let Annie have her daisy clip. Maybe. :)

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  4. TuyenAugust 12, 2011 at 8:38 AM

    I love the brownie hats...so lucky to have a talented friend like you!!!!

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