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...


Thursday, September 8, 2011

September Air

On Sunday, KC temperatures dropped into "wonderful" range. Cool, crisp mornings and sunshiny, breezy afternoons - sweater optional. LOVE it, and find myself smiling for no other reason than the air is delicious. Ahhhh...

And now that September is here we are entering (once again) into nonstop, jam-packed, fun-activity time! We kicked the month off in style with Brad and Rowan at the first KU football game...

... followed by a family outing to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival on Sunday with Uncle Cliff and cousin Dolly. Check out these cute girls!
We played games, ate roasted turkey legs, shopped a bit, saw several fun performances, and watched the colorful, costumed masses as we made our way around the magical land of Canterbury. Rowan fell in love with all of it, and can't wait to go back! She tried her hand at archery, something that had been on her list for ages, and we found her a great little peasant girl outfit that she will gypsy up for Halloween. She also got her first Henna tattoo (check out the lizard on her forearm).
Just as we were leaving the festival, we saw some beautiful flower headbands/wreaths for sale. They were pricey, so we decided to get the materials and make them ourselves. It's on the to-do list, but here are the flowers and ribbons we chose.


September is going to be filled with Girl Scout activities as well. I survived my first meeting, and hope the girls had tons of fun. Here's a glimpse at a couple of the activities we did: sharing what each girl wants to do as a Brownie, and decorating her Brownie folder with words and pictures that make her feel good about herself.
This Saturday, Rowan and I will be marching with part of our troop and 700 other Girl Scouts in the Old Settler's Parade in Olathe. GS turns 100 this year, and Olathe turns 150, so it's a mega-celebration! I had several Brownies over yesterday afternoon to decorate the flags our troop will be carrying - here's how they turned out.
Since there will be a lot of sit-around-and-wait before the parade, we will also be making swaps to trade with the scouts we meet. I printed off a ton of little tags this afternoon, dug out the safety pins and teeny water balloons and voila - swaps!
September also brings our first Troop campout, and then October arrives with a 100th Anniversary zoo event, pumpkin patch, and Rowan's birthday. So many crafty things to look forward to!

In knitting news, the cooler temps also bring more prolific knitting. My orange flutter scarf is almost 3/4 done - it isn't blocked yet so it's pretty wrinkled but you get the idea. Love the "flutter" where it widens at the end!
I am also loving the cowl pattern my mom sent - the yarn is delicious and the pattern is mindless and relaxing! I'm about 3 inches in...and even though I cut 20 stitches from the recommended cast on it still looks a little big. Hmmm. But it's for me, so it doesn't matter. I did get yarn to make a second one as a gift, so I'll get the pattern perfected before I cast on for that one.
And that's a wrap, people! Time to go get Brynn from preschool...
Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. KathySeptember 8, 2011 at 8:48 PM

    Your knitting looks great! The pictures from your fun weekend are awesome. Love the flowers, outfit, and Brownie signs and swaps. What a jam-packed wonderful life you lead. I know you know it, but these are such precious years in your life, ya know? :) I feel so much gratitude to be a part of it, even just through your blog, let alone other routes! Yeah for the internet!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)