Still getting moved in

It is really taking a long time to get unpacked. I'm not enjoying this part anymore. I really only have one more room to unpack, but it's a really intense room: the classroom. It will double as the craft room on occasion, but its primary purpose is school. I am SO looking forward to having the kids back in a classroom setting rather than crashing in the living room... Unfortunately, the hardware for the table was misplaced during the move and I am gonna have to go rig it somehow. I'll figure it out; I always do.

I picked up a new raw foods book at Borders this weekend. It's Ani Phyo's (latest???) book and I *love* it. The book is downstairs and I am not. I don't remember the name of it, other than the fact that "Raw Foods" is in the title. Sheesh.

My van is in the shop and it needs serious work. Honestly I wish I could get a newer van, but that does not seem to be in the works for right now. Maybe it's time to talk to my Daddy about that...

Dr. Who Scarf

Thanks to Netflix instant stream, I have rediscovered the Doctor.

Thanks to my knitting friends, I am now knitting a copy of his scarf.

I am just over 1/3 of the way into it, and already it is over five feet long. I'm just over 5 feet tall (5'4") so you can just imagine how totally yummy this scarf is going to be when it's finished! It is 14" wide and wonderfully squishy. To top it off, it is a simple garter stitch, no thinking required. Nothing but pure kniting therapy.

Ahhhhhhh.

I'm lovin' it!

What a tremendous difference it has made restoring routine in our new home! Wow. The kids have settled down drastically.

Here are some of the things we worked over:

Chores: All of us have to work together to make and keep our home comfortable. I am asking the kids to take care of their own breakfast and lunch dishes - from counter to cupboard - and have split them into teams of two for dinner duties. We no longer have a dishwasher, so each night one kid will wash and one will dry/put away, while the other two clean up the dining room. Jon and I will obviously be helping out in both areas. We also agreed to split the living areas of the house into 4 zones, and right after school is done the kids will devote just 15 minutes each weekday to their zone for the day. On Saturday it will be 1 hour each for a thorough cleaning (although I doubt it will take that long in the zone.) They are all responsible for their own living space in their rooms, which they can tidy up in a few minutes before going to bed.

Play time: After the 15 minutes chore time is done, they can play indoors, outdoors, whatever. this includes computers and Wii, board games, etc.

Reading: mandatory 30 minutes per day, after dinner/before bed. We'll be working on rotating kids through showers during this time.

Laundry: we are continuing with assigned days for laundry :) Loving this! The kids all do great with their laundry.

Personal care: stepping up on this one. Some of the kids need reminding and prodding in this area, and we are hoping that having a set time for it will help.

There are other areas we discussed and are working on, but those are the biggies.

Another area of change is that the kids are now doing scouting. It turns out the boy scouts and cub scouts meet across the street in the Methodist church, so they can still go even if their dad isn't home from work. I like this alot! I sent a message to the girl scouts leader for Lydia but haven't heard back yet... We'll see about that.

Having a sense of routine has made so much difference in the kids' attitudes already. I am so grateful! I woke up the other morning, and the first thought that came to my mind was that the kids were missing the order we had finally established before we moved. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for that breath of inspiration. I may be really dense sometimes... Glad I heard this one!

Monday, Monday (dah dah, dah da dah dah)

It's raining this morning. Welcome, refreshing rain! Clear out the dust and the pollen and the stinkbugs, and let your gentle rhythm soothe the tensed up soul today.

I feel SO stupid sometimes. My kids have been driving me crazy since we've moved with all their fighting and strife. It only NOW hit me that - DUH - they need their days restructured. The classroom is still a horrid mess since I am not done unpacking (hard to do it all by yourself when it seems there is a house full of crazy people demanding your constant intervention.) So homeschool has been off-kilter. Time to set up the new regimen.

I really believe the kids will welcome this. I know I will.

What a Ride...

I've been on a really wild ride lately.

I am finally coming through!

I love it that darkness cannot abide the Light, and that God's thoughts and plans toward me are for a future and a hope. I really love that!

We have moved, after losing our home to foreclosure, and we are definitely in a new season. This has been severely humbling, and yet amazingly enlightening. I feel like ten thousand pounds of weight has been lifted off of me!

God has refreshed a vision in my heart, a dream of ministry. I had backed off from my dreams when my son had cancer, and when our precious little friend died, and when I was in so much pain for so long that I could barely move. When you back off of your dreams, they shrivel up and die. When I realized that I had let that happen, of course I wanted to shrivel up and die... but God has re-energized me. How can I possibly thank Him enough for that?

I have several dreams. Closest to my heart is to worship Him in song and bring others along for the ride... next is to begin a mentoring ministry within the Body of Christ. Teaching the younger women what just isn't being taught anymore: How to become intimate with God and build a successful home and family. I am finally stepping out in this, knowing full well that I am not the master of it all, but pulling together resources and starting on lesson plans. I am very excited about the potential here and look forward very much to seeing what God will do when I let go of myself and allow Him to work.

A Creating Mommy Is a Happy Mommy!

I don't get to pull out my loom as often as I would like. It is huge - over 4 feet wide and about 2 feet deep when it's folded up. It opens up to a depth of nearly 4 feet, and you add to that the space it takes for the weaver to sit on her bench while she weaves. My precious friend who blessed me with this loom said that she was tired of having it take up her livingroom. I can see why, but I don't mind. I'm grateful to have it!

My loom sits in my livingroom, too, so I can always be inspired to use it. I am always inspired, but it is not always possible to do anything with that inspiration. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to bother anyone else in the family to have the space taken up in this way. They love the things I make, and know beyond any shadow of a doubt that a creating mommy is a happy mommy!

Prepping the loom for weaving can be a daunting task if you are not totally in love with your craft (we all know how difficult tasks become so much more enjoyable when you love what you're doing!) The very first thing you must do is the math, calculating how much warp yarn you need -how many strands to cut and how long to cut them. The warp is the yarn that goes from fron to back in the loom, the stationary yarn. Knowing how long you want your finished piece(s) of fabric to be, you must calculate how much yarn to have ready for the weft (the yarn that you weave side to side through the warp.) Once your warp is measured, you need to string each piece of warp yarn through the beater's reed and individual heddles in the appropriate harnesses. The warp needs to be wound onto beams and kept at a consistent tension across the whole width. After all of that, which takes HOURS, you might be ready to start weaving.

My loom currently has a scarf and some placemats on it. (I haven't been able to weave in a few days, so it sits...) I figured I wanted to use the same yarn in pretty much the same configuration of colors for both projects, so I strung up the loom to do all of these pieces on the same warp. It saves yarn in the long run, and it definitely saves time, since I don't have to go through beaming the warp the second time.

Can you imagine cutting 160 pieces of yarn, each 9 yards long? I am so blessed to have a warping mill to make that task so much easier! You cut a piece of yarn the length that you need and wrap it around the mill however many times it takes and anchor each end of the yarn on posts. This creates sort of a trail to use to measure the remaining pieces, spinning the mill back and forth while wrapping rather than standing there measuring piece by piece. Thank GOD for warping mills!

The weaving is generally the easy part. You get into a rhythm, rocking back and forth with each shot of of the shuttle through the shed (the space between the raised warp yarns and the lower ones.) You watch your fabric grow, and in almost no time, you have a finished cloth.

The fabric shown in these photos is my current project. It is woven in a simple weave using a linen/rayon boucle. In this photo, the fabric is approximately 12 feet long. The warp is initially wound around the back beam, and as it is woven, the fabric is wound around the beam in the front. When it is finished, I will cut the warp strings approximately 2" from the edges of each of the placemats and 4" from the edges of the scarf, then tie them into a nice fringe. I have not decided whether the scarf will be worn or become a table/dresser runner. We will see!

I've Got Three Words For You:

Cherry. Banana. Smoothie.