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...


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Last Days of School

I just put Brynn on the bus for her 2nd-to-last day of school (and remembered to give our cookie gifts to her driver and bus aide!)  I have two afternoons left of "me time" until mid-August, so I've gotta make 'em count. Tomorrow afternoon I am meeting friends to knit, and today I will probably run errands and enjoy the gorgeous day (with an iced coffee beverage of some kind).

 I just took a moment outside to check on my garden, and was surprised to find my first blooming clematis! Hello, little beauty!


 I'm so glad we created a bigger trellis for the clematis to thrive on this summer - and I was SO good about actually training them this year! Yay me!  Sadly, one of my transplanted rose bushes is officially dead, poor thing. His brother is doing well, and the honeysuckle are blooming and thriving in their Rubbermaid bins, thank goodness!

 The bunnies have been chewing at the orange construction fence, and have been frolicking, napping, and probably nesting in the back half of our yard since we aren't mowing it.  When Brynn gets off the bus each day, she is now saying "rabbit?"  So we always head back to see if we can spot one. She likes her new cozy sandbox area, and I have learned to keep a rake under the deck so I can fish for all the toys she throws over the fence!

 Rowan performed beautifully in her piano recital on Sunday afternoon, and was SUPER excited to wear her new outfit for the occasion. No more "little girl" dresses for her. Sniff, sniff!

In knitting news, I have FINALLY finished the embellishments on the plain block backgrounds that have been sitting in the drawer for months. Finally!! I might need to re-block them a bit since the edges started to curl. 
I also just finished the 2nd of two identical blocks (because the patterns was so easy and satisfying, and the yarn so yummy!)
And then I got a bug in my butt one morning last week to make a block for Rowan - the panda is her favorite animal, and she is ga-ga over it these days. I still need to embroider the leaf stems, but here he is. And I don't know what she'll want to do with it - turn it into a pillow, a wall-hanging, a doll blanket.  I plan to give it to her Thursday as her 4th grade "graduation" present. :)  Isn't he cute?

Brynn had fun this morning for an hour at the Field Day hosted by her soon-to-be new school.  She was pretty mad at me when we left, but we had a dentist appointment to get her to. I am happy to report her teeth are perfect and she didn't cry once!  She wiggled and fussed quite a bit, but they were great with her and brushed one or two teeth at a time to keep her happy. Bless her heart, she kept saying "Aaaahhh" like we try to get her to do at the doctor's office. Love that little squirmer!  And now, I get to go have my hoo-ha inspected at my annual exam. Wheee. But then I get iced coffee!!


Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. AnonymousMay 22, 2014 at 11:44 PM

    I love when you post about your family and hobbies and life. :) It enriches my own.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)