He’s Fifteen, Christ is Risen, and the Ham is Frozen

April 21, 2025Leave a comment

We had a birthday this week! Can you believe that this:

Is now this?

Seriously, where did the time go?!?! I’m pretty sure that I just brought this child home from the hospital!

Top priorities this past week:

Celebrate The Boy’s birthday
Easter Sacrament program
Easter dinner
Try to make some progress on the Star Climber scrap quilt

Celebrating

He’s a whopping fifteen years old now. He can start Driver’s Ed and we’re just careening towards independence with this baby of the family. It’s going by so fast.

Creating

The Easter Sacrament program went really, really well! Everyone showed up on time and did the things they said they would do and many ward members remarked that the program helped them feel the Spirit, which is the basic goal of any of these programs. It was a lot of work and I’m trying to focus on some self-care practices this week to release the tension that’s been building in my shoulders and neck for the past three weeks.

Easter dinner did not happened as planned because whomever unloaded the car after my Easter dinner grocery shopping trip, and it very well could have been me despite having no recollection of it, decided to put the Easter ham into the freezer. So when I went to get the ham out of the fridge yesterday to bake it, I discovered that it was not in the fridge, but in the freezer as hard as a rock. Easter dinner has been rescheduled for later this week, and we enjoyed leftover chili and mac & cheese, with a healthy helping of carrot cake.

Didn’t make any progress on the Star Climber quilt because I was too busy with life this week. Here’s the thing—I’ve also been feeling a sense of burnout. I’ve given so much of myself to quilting and this blog over the years, but more and more I’m thinking that I might want to step back and refocus. It’s not an easy decision, but I’m starting to feel like it’s time to make room for something new. As difficult as it would be to walk away, I believe this might be the best decision for me right now. I’m ready to turn the page and embrace new things. This chapter is coming to a close, and I’m excited to see where life takes me from here.

Final Thoughts

So here we are—celebrating a milestone birthday, reflecting on a meaningful Easter, and thinking seriously about where to go next. Life is busy, beautiful, and a little overwhelming sometimes. I’m feeling the pull to slow down, breathe, and make space for what’s ahead. I don’t know exactly what that looks like yet, but I do know this: It’s okay to grow, to shift, and to let go of things that once filled you up but now feel like too much. Thanks for being here, for reading, and for walking this journey with me—even when the ham ends up in the freezer. (I never offered perfection…and I thank you for laughing with me over the many mishaps over the years.)

Spring Break with Teens: Prom Prep, Easter Crafts & a Day Trip

April 13, 2025Leave a comment

Another Spring Break done and dusted. We had a great week of not having to be anywhere and having the freedom to explore and do what we felt like doing on our own schedule. Reminded me of our homeschooling days. Gosh, I miss those.

Top priorities this past week:

HAVE A GREAT SPRING BREAK
Perhaps get some work done in the garden
Hem Rachel’s prom dress

Caring

It matters a lot to me that I do some fun things with the kids during their Spring Breaks. I spent some time researching interesting places to go on our side of the state and asked Rachel and Nathaniel if any of them sounded interesting. Nathaniel chose The Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum, which I had never heard of, and Rachel wanted to do a good old-fashioned trip to the zoo. So, we packed up one morning and did a “Seattle Day Trip,” which also included a trip to the Dick Blick store in Seattle, which Rachel’s wanted to visit since we moved here. (I generally avoid Seattle like the plague these days because it is no longer the beautiful place that it was in my youth—makes me too sad to spend much time there anymore.)

I also wanted to work on hemming Rachel’s prom dress, but never got around to it. Ugh. She ordered a dress that ended up being too long for her, and it has like five skirts, so I’m getting to experience all the worst parts of dressmaking (hemming) without any of the fun parts whatsoever (basically every other part of sewing a dress). Super jazzed. Next week is crazy busy with Easter prep, so I probably won’t get to it until the week after that. It’s a little too close to the deadline for my liking, but it is what it is at this point.

Gardening

Nope. I’m thinking this year is going to be a lean garden year. I just can’t/won’t find the time to get out there and work on it. Which is fine; I just need to wrap my head around the idea of quite possibly letting that slide this year.

Creativity

We’re in the process of painting some wooden Easter eggs for our Easter table centerpiece. We’ve done pysanky and regular egg dyeing in the past and we’re kind of over putting all that effort into making eggs each year only to eat them or have them break later on. Very few of us like hardboiled eggs, so dyeing up a bunch means a lot of them will go bad over the next weeks. I’d rather make our decorating efforts last, hence the experiment with wooden eggs this year.

It’s been fun exploring new ways of expressing my creativity lately. Something I’ve noticed over the last few years is that I tend to rotate through my hobbies, and once spring hits I’m not looking forward to more time in the craft room. As of right now, I’m looking forward to pursuing more painting projects and dedicating my focus where I feel it’s needed most, like in the garden or in physical activity.

Final Thoughts

I took the week off from quilting so I could focus on the kids and spring break activities—something I’ve finally felt strong enough to enjoy again, and that in itself has felt like a quiet victory. But as I’ve stepped back to breathe a little, it’s becoming clearer that I can’t keep juggling everything I love with the same intensity. Life is gently nudging me to shift focus for a season, and that might mean sharing less online.

That said, this moment of pause also reminded me just how much joy and beauty this space has held over the years. I’ve spent some time revisiting old posts and projects that still make my heart sing, and I’d love to share a few of those with you, too:

Favorite Projects Through the Years:

Quilts

Storybook Hexagon Quilt made by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara. A baby quilt with EPP hexagon blossoms set with string blocks. — Storybook Hexagon Quilt

Farmgirl Vintage Quilt made by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara — Farm Girl Vintage Quilt

Patchwork Forest Quilt (aka the "Hipster Christmas Tree Quilt") made by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara — Patchwork Forest Quilt

Classic & Vintage Double Nine-Patch Quilt made by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara — Classic & Vintage: Double Nine-Patch Quilt for Fat Quarter Shop

Rachel Brooke's first quilt, a Trip Around the World pattern. Made with her mother, Cara Brooke, of That Crafty Cara — Rachel’s First Quilt

Other Sewing

Prom dresses made by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara — Prom Dresses

Jolly Braid Tote Bag made by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara for Fat Quarter Shop — Jolly Braid Tote Bag

Crochet

Three handmade shawls that Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara made for her daughters when they were young girls. — Three Finished Shawls for the Girls

Knitting

Baking Doodle Cowl knit by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara — Baking Doodle Cowl

Rainbow Ombre Mitts knit by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara — Rainbow Ombre Heart Mitts

Peacock Feathers Stole knit by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara. Knit with Jaggerspun in Juniper. — Peacock Feathers Stole

Purple Fair Isle Sweater designed and knit by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara for her daughter. — Amethyst Fair Isle Sweater

Cabled Yoke Cardigan designed & knit by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara for her daughter, Rachel out of pink tweed yarn — Raspberry Ropes Cardigan

NOT FAVORITE PROJECTS

Face Masks sewn by Cara Brooke of That Crafty Cara in March 2020 — FACE MASKS. (We’ve been through so much together, friends…)

I wish a you a lovely upcoming week of spring! Isn’t it just the best season ever?!?! Loving this year’s spring. Thank you so much for being a part of my world.

Old Photos, New Thoughts: Looking Back as Spring Marches on…

April 8, 2025Leave a comment

Whew! April is HERE and we are happily enjoying its beauty and all the work that it brings our way. Children prance about in the sunlight, there’s Easter and General Conference preparations to take care of, and there’s beginning to be a bit of “school will be ending” energy in the kids’ activities, despite there being a good two months of attendance left. There’s just something about the beginning of April; it’s peak spring and looking-to-the-future vibes. I love it!

The band was involved in a big bunch of parades over the weekend, so there was a lot of prep work for that. Band Boosters pack lunches for all the kids and chaperones, which requires a bit of logistical tap-dancing, but we got ‘er done. Rachel also got to be in the parade this year—she pushed the wheelchair of one of the band students. As luck would have it, that student plays percussion, just like Nathaniel, and the two of them were placed next to each other in the parade formation so I was able to get photos of both Rachel and Nathaniel together in a parade! I never thought that would happen. (I’m not going to post those photos because there’s a whole bunch of other kids from the school in the shot and I would not like it if other parents posted pictures of my kids in public spaces on the internet.)

I was looking through old photos of the kids doing gardening and Easter prep work throughout the years and feeling all the feels from those days. What a blessing it has been to be able to easily share their childhood moments with family through the blog and through social media. It was not part of my plan to have lived so far away from family while my kids were growing up, but at least there was an easy way to keep in touch. I’m so thankful for blogging and social media in that regard, and more grateful on top of that when I consider all the great opportunities that have come into my life because of the blog, namely, the opportunity to collaborate with Fat Quarter Shop, Blank Quilting, and the other businesses that I’ve teamed up with to promote quilting and knitting projects.

I’ve been on Instagram for over eleven years now. Who would have thought that little free photo-sharing app would turn into what it’s now become? The online world has changed so much over the years, and I’m a little sad to say that I’ve found it increasingly difficult to keep up with the pace. The pressure to stay relevant and adapt to new trends can sometimes overshadow the joy of creating. More and more I find myself wondering if I want to keep participating in a rat race where the rules keep changing without any notification or warning. Somber thoughts for such a beautiful time of year, but there you go…

Happy April!

A daffodil in That Crafty Cara's (Cara Brooke's) garden

Hailstorms, Mishaps, and a Birthday Cake Colosseum

March 16, 2025December 26, 2025Leave a comment

Hello, dear friends! This last week has been a mix of progress, moments of “Whoops!”, and unexpected weather!

Caring

We dusted off the old tradition of holding Family Home Evening this week! Since Michael’s birthday was this week, this last Monday’s FHE was all about him—sharing favorite memories of him, letting him pick the activity and treat, and just having fun the way he wanted to have fun. He chose to have a fire in the backyard and eat s’mores and we spent one of the last normal-weather days of fake spring jumping around the backyard and stuffing ourselves with marshmallows. It was a low-key evening that was very much enjoyed by all.

Michael’s birthday: We did all the things and my guy has been celebrated! We had steak, baked potatoes, Caesar salad, and rustic Italian bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dinner. Renaissance also made a really great Roman Colosseum birthday cake for him. We played Yahtzee and it was just a nice, calm evening at home, just the way he likes ‘em.

Roman Colosseum birthday cake decorated by Renaissance Brooke

Creativity

The King David’s Crown quilt post went live on Tuesday and you guys went nuts for it! Thank you so much for the comments, emails, and pinning of the post, it got a lot of traffic. That was a fun couple of days where I felt like I was able to put something really beautiful out into the world and people appreciated it. Thank you for the love! Now, to finish quilting the actual quilt so I can use said beautiful thing.
Cherry Twilight Socks: I am in the middle of shaping the gusset on the first sock. I wish I could show these to you right now because they look so good! It would be a dead giveaway whose Christmas present they were for if I were to show you, so vague word pictures are all you’re gonna get until after Christmas. Crafters’ lives are weird that way.
Midnight Lark Socks: I’m not sure how I feel about these, but they’re coming along. I’m about 2/3 done with the leg of the first sock.
I put in a little more time on the Star Climber quilt. I always forget how many little pieces go into a scrap quilt! The cutting for this has been more than I expected, but I sure do love the fabrics that will be used in this project. Scrap quilts are such a great trip down Memory Lane, I love making them so much!

An in-progress Woven Star quilt block being made by That Crafty Cara (Cara Brooke) for her Star Climber scrap quilt.

Lowlights

My allergies are pretty bad this year and it’s just hard to get through my days with any energy. I feel like such a grump. My eyes itch really bad and I’ve rubbed them so hard I’ve broken a blood vessel in one. Feeling extra pretty right now. And, of course, the ward choir had a performance scheduled for today so I dragged myself into church to conduct it and then left as soon as I could afterwards.
All of these low energy days are giving way to a lot of introspection, which generally doesn’t make one feel great about themselves. I’m extra aware of my flaws at the moment and trying to improve. Which is the best I can offer!

Highlights

That moment during FHE around the firepit when it’s just gotten dark and everyone just relaxes.
Had a cute conversation with a fellow band parent about the Great British Baking Show and the joys that are gingham and Anglophilia.
The kids had no school on Friday, so Rachel decided to make brunch that day and she made the most amazing creamy chipotle breakfast burrito sauce I’ve ever tasted.
The delight on Michael’s face when he walked into the kitchen and realized that Ren was creating a Roman Colosseum cake for him.
Michael really got into directing us as we sang “Happy Birthday” to him.

The ward choir performance today went really well. We sang one of the newly-released hymns, #1007 “As Bread is Broken,” which Ren’s flute teacher had written a flute part for and I arranged a few of the verses to be slightly more interesting for the choir. A visitor to our service today came up and asked if she could take a copy of it home with her so her ward choir could sing it, too. High praise!

Final Thoughts

We’re just muddling through the allergies and wet weather as best we can, with more time together, some extra stitching, and good food. What else can you do? Hopefully your fake spring survival tactics are working for you as well, and I’ll talk to you again soon!

Handknit socks made with red, green, and white self-striping yarn.

Stripey Christmas Socks

February 26, 2025February 22, 20252 Comments

Hurray! A beautiful finish that will now go live in a trunk for eight months. *groan* I’m really looking forward to debuting these on November 1st while decorating for Christmas while wearing my Hermey the Elf shirt. *happy smile*

Details:

Pattern: #216 Beginner’s Lightweight Socks, by Diane Soucy of Knitting Pure & Simple After all this time? Always.

Yarn: West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 ply Self Striping/Patterning, colorway #886 Holly Berry, Cascade Yarns Heritage, colorway #5607 Red, Lang Reinforcing Thread, colorway #60.

Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm)

Modifications: I saw a sock knit up with this colorway and did not like it, so I added the solid red heels and toes. Now that they’re done I realize that I probably would have liked it if I had also knit the ribbing in solid red as well. (I also would have preferred if I had done a 2×2 ribbing on BOTH socks, and not just one…whoops. Doesn’t the 2×2 ribbing look SO GOOD?!?! I’ve been a 1×1 forever, but I will be changing my ways from here on out.)

It’s a late finish, but I didn’t want to rush ’em. This is such a great colorway and I enjoyed knitting these so much! I’m very tempted to commit to the idea of new Christmas socks each year, but even I can recognize the insanity of such a pledge, so these may remain my only handknit Christmas socks (for a while…it’s loads of fun to knit Christmas socks!).

Two Weeks of Creativity in One Post: A Birthday, a Quilt, and some Music

February 21, 20253 Comments

The past two weeks have been full of color, celebration, and music! Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to:

Birthday Magic

We celebrated Rachel’s seventeenth birthday last week with doughnuts and a tea party! We had to postpone the family birthday dinner due to last-minute glitches with the tea party scheduling, but that will happen pretty soon. She had a fun time with her friends and I tried to make things nice for her last “childhood” birthday. I can’t believe these kids are getting so old!

Nearing the Finish Line

The King David’s Crown quilt is nearly complete. The “finished” photos of it were due this last week, so those have been taken and submitted, but there’s still some last bits of quilting to do on it and the binding and labelling, which I’m going to do slowly because I’m really burnt-out on crafting at the moment. (Blame the Februaries…blah.)

So Much Music-ky Goodness

The past two Sundays had a lot of music in ’em. Ren and I performed a beautiful arrangement of “I Know That My Redeemer Lives” two Sundays ago, and last Sunday the choir sang a really pretty arrangement of “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need.” Music takes a lot of work to happen, but it’s work that matters! I love the enthusiastic musicians in our ward who are always up for the next thing. Work continues on the Easter program and I also need to spend some quality with the latest batch of newly-released hymns so I can write up a game plan to get them introduced to our congregation.

Also Some Sugary Goodness

Renaissance was asked to help out at the Relief Society activity this week and showed the ladies how to decorate cupcakes in three different ways. She did so good! Yay for fun church activities!

Up Next…

I’ve got some “finished project” posts coming soon…there’s a pair of socks that took a tub-tub this morning and currently drying on their blockers. I’ll try to get that post written up ASAP to share with you! Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

A Woven Star quilt block made by That Crafty Cara (Cara Brooke) for her Star Climber Scrap Quilt.

Starry Stitches & Snowfall Wishes: A February Fresh Start

February 3, 2025March 24, 20254 Comments

Happy Monday! Happy February! I don’t know if you can wish anyone a happy Monday or a happy February, but here I am, trying to inject some semblance of cheer into the grayest part of the year! I found an image on the internet last week that I absolutely loved from Pippi Post, and I have been quoting it to myself over and over again ever since:

There’s a lot of stuff going on right now that is upsetting for people, it’s February and we haven’t seen the sun in months, and almost everyone I know is recovering from some bout of illness. We’re all tired and we’re all overwhelmed, so prioritizing joy is a good idea right now. I’ve been trying to avoid being a grump and it really is weird how you can just choose to be optimistic if you really put your mind to it.

Something that brings me joy is figuring out my week ahead, so here we are with a Crafting a Plan post! Enjoy!

Cooking

This week’s meal plan:

Monday: Tuscan Meatball Soup with gnocchi
Tuesday: Grilled Cheese & Lunchmeat sandwiches, Salad with creamy cider vinaigrette
Wednesday: Breakfast Soft Tacos
Thursday: Costco Lasagna, Caesar salad
Friday: Chicken-Tomatillo Soup with Chipotle Chiles
Saturday: TBD
Sunday: TBD

Clothing

I am so caught up with laundry! It is exhilarating! I actually have time to work on rotating our wardrobes at the moment, so there’s a big upheaval with the warm and cold weather clothing. I read a fantastic book about decluttering over Christmas Break and am applying the principles to my wardrobe as I work through the rotating.

Cleaning

I’m trying to do some decluttering and it’s going pretty good. The book I read is called Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff, by Dana K. White, and it’s got a completely sane approach to dealing with decluttering that does not involve dumping out an entire anything and spending hours at a time on the process à la Marie Kondo. I’ve gone through the front entrance of the house, the dining room, and I’m slowly working on the craft room. All the background thought that goes into the process makes the upkeep of the cleaned area much easier, so those areas of my house are looking really good, even weeks later. Very good book, highly recommended.

Caring

Haircuts for Michael & Nathaniel
I need to make a vet appointment for Quesnel. She’s not looking like she’s feeling very well.
I need to keep an eye on spring sports registration for Nathaniel.

Creativity

King David’s Crown is assembled and awaiting basting. I decided that I wanted to quilt it nicely, so I’ve ordered some quilting stencils and the company has taken forever to ship them to me. They should arrive on Thursday, despite having ordered them last weekend. Hmph.
I started working on my scrappy Star Climber quilt last week and I am loving it! What a great pattern for using up scraps! Love, love, love. I’m planning on this one taking all year to complete so that I don’t have to rush it. I really enjoy working with the Woven Star foundation papers* and I think I’ve picked out a great color palette for this quilt that will use up a lot of scraps from particularly overflowing scrap bins. My schedule for this quilt calls for me to complete eight blocks in February, and I’ve finished four thus far. Another two are in-progress right now and I’m hoping to have them done by the end of this week.
It’s quite possible that I could finish the Christmas Stripey socks this week. I’ve made it to the toe decreases, so there’s not a lot of work left on them.

Celebrating

Emily just celebrated her 21st birthday. I think you’re officially old when your kids start turning 21.
Next up is Rachel’s birthday. How in the world is she almost seventeen years old?!?! Nathaniel mentioned that her next birthday will allow her to vote. That was not on my radar. These kids just went and grew up on me when I wasn’t looking.
Michael and I aren’t up for a big night out on Valentine’s Day so we’re planning a family Mario Kart tournament for that evening. Depending on how into it the kids are, there could be some cute things happening. If the cute things don’t happen, whatever; we’ll still have fun and eat tasty treats.
Michael’s birthday is on the horizon, but I’m not quite into planning mode for that yet.
Same with Nathaniel.
Easter IS on my mind because I’m trying to get the Easter Program together for church. I’ve got my rough draft written up and submitted for approval, so we’ll see how much the bishopric likes it. I’d also like to do some planning in regards to Easter dinner; the kind of planning that will repeat itself every year and make my life easier.

Community

Ren and I will be performing the special musical number in church this week because I couldn’t find anyone else to do it. We are becoming very good at throwing pieces together at the last minute! So we’ll need to figure out some rehearsal time during the week.
Track down some flute music for Ren for the Easter Program.
Compose an ending/reprise for my arrangement of “As Bread is Broken” for the choir.
Pick up raffle tickets I had printed for band boosters.
Check in on the t-shirts we’re having printed for the band’s Disney trip

Top priorities this week:

Vet appointment for Quesnel
Rachel’s birthday
Valentine’s Day
Getting the quilting going on the King David’s Crown quilt

I wish you a happy first week of February! We’re getting some snow right now and I’m really hoping it translates into a legit snow day tomorrow so we can just bum around and drink cocoa all day. I’m reeeeeally hoping for that. May you get your snow wishes granted as well, if that’s your jam.

Michael’s Christmas Socks 2024

January 3, 2025Leave a comment

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to each of you, dear readers! December 2024 was a whirlwind of activity, mostly revolving around the constant of music in our family, so I wasn’t able to do a whole lot in the craft room throughout the month, but I DID finish up a pair of handknit socks for my sweet hubby to open on Christmas Day!

Details:

Pattern: #216 Beginner’s Lightweight Socks, by Diane Soucy of Knitting Pure & Simple (As always! It’s a great sock pattern!)

Yarn: Paton’s Kroy Socks in colorway #55102 “Blue Striped Ragg”, 2 skeins with very little leftover. I also tried using a reinforcement thread in the heels and toes for the first time, and ran out of it halfway through the second toe. Note to self: He has big feet and needs two spools in the future. I used Lang Reinforcement Thread #23, purchased from Simply Socks Yarn Company.

Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm)

Modifications: The yarn skeins don’t stop and end in the same place, stripe-wise, so I did my best to match up the stripes, but had to split my second skein to start in the same place as the first skein, which meant I had to join in the last bit of yarn near the toe so it stripes a little weird in the second sock. Fortunately, no one will see it because it’ll be hidden by his shoes when he’s wearing them.

This is the first time I’ve pulled off making a pair of socks for Michael for Christmas two years in a row! Woot, woot! And I barely pulled it off—I finished these during the afternoon on Christmas Eve and got them wrapped and under the tree with only minutes to spare before Michael walked in the door from work.

I love the idea of a tradition of making Michael a pair of socks each Christmas. Back when I started knitting, I eagerly looked forward to the Yarn Harlot’s frantic pre-Christmas circus posts where she’d get through insane lists and spreadsheets of handknits to complete during the holidays, and I loved reading through the posts that featured her handknits in the hands of smiling recipients, Christmas tree lights twinkling in the background. I enjoy going to other people’s circuses from time to time, and her Christmas circus was such a delight to behold in all its urgency and anticipation that would then yield beautiful photos of a happy family and beautifully-knitted gifts and lovely words of love, joy and gratitude. (I miss the old days of blogging, they were really wonderful. Instagram is, really…was, great and all, but I miss the writing that we used to treat each other to back in the day.)

I envisioned the same future for myself, which has basically come true (except for the handknits part), and here we are today with us going through a Christmas circus every year that can only be managed with spreadsheets and to-do lists. It’s mostly all music-related for us Brookes, but I still endeavor to throw some handmades into the mix. These socks were created in all sorts of stolen moments in between putting together the band fundraiser, the Ward Christmas Sacrament Program, and our family’s own holiday celebrations and traditions. I like a little crazy.

Each stitch in these socks is a little bit of crazy, a little bit of peace stolen amidst chaos, a little bit of tradition. A little bit of the holiday experience over and over again. I love having these reminders throughout the year of another Christmas that has come and gone. Each Sunday, when Michael is putting on his church shoes and I see which handknit socks he’s chosen to wear that week, I’m inundated with memories from whichever Christmas and year that particular pair was created. It’s a lot of a memories, over and over again. We’ve been blessed to have so many Christmases together. I hope, twenty years from now, that I’m still making socks for him each year, and that I’m darning the older socks and reliving the glory days of Christmases past—days of our children in footed pajamas, mornings when they were teenagers in flannel pants and messy buns, to eventual days of their own children in footed pajamas and maple syrup-stickied fingers. I learned to knit when I was just starting out as a wife and mother, and I hope I’m still knitting and making memories that include handknit gifts with happy faces and twinkling lights for many, many years to come.

Click here to view this project’s Ravelry page

Goodbye Halloween, Hello Christmas!

November 1, 2024November 4, 2024Leave a comment

It’s November, and right on schedule, it’s raining like crazy today. It’s pretty rain at this point—the brightness of the colorful leaves creates an impressionistic feel to the landscape, so at least we have that.

Top priorities this past week:

Halloween celebrating & traditions
Band Fundraiser Table Runners
Scheduling special musical performances for November
Finding a pianist for the Christmas program
Make some headway on the secret Christmas knitting
Rest when I’m tired or hurting

Celebrating

Halloween was fun this year. Not a lot of fuss, but Renaissance and I did manage to create our traditional chili in pumpkin bread bowls, which I wasn’t too sure was going to happen. She invited her friends over for another Halloween feast before Trick or Treating started, despite that they’re all adults now that don’t do Trick or Treating, and they hung out afterwards playing video games together and taking breaks to hunt down Rachel and Nathaniel in the neighborhood to jump scare them with light sabers. As one does…

I was a little sad going into Halloween this year because Ren and her friends have grown up and I was worried about Rachel and Nathaniel not having a group to go Trick or Treating with, but they put the word out that we live in a great neighborhood for Trick or Treating and some of their friends decided to come on over to do that here. It was nice. I love the chaos of having a gaggle of teenagers in my house on Halloween night. Absolutely love it—peak motherhood aspirations there.

So Halloween is over, and with that comes Christmas. I absolutely turned on Christmas music this morning as I worked in the craft room!

And spare me your “Christmas shouldn’t start before Thanksgiving” sentiments: I’m Canadian; I grew up with Thanksgiving taking place in early October, so my internal Christmas countdown was programmed in childhood to start once Halloween was over and I’m not going to reset it ever because more time in Christmas Town is AWESOME. I take the requisite days off from Christmas prep to do a proper job on American Thanksgiving, and we are very grateful people who are capable of exuding a thankful attitude even while decorating for Christmas. I know, it may be shocking that such people exist, but we do! Everything is OK, gratitude will continue to exist in our home despite the appearance of red and green before Thanksgiving. If you’re a person who doesn’t do Christmas until after American Thanksgiving, cool. You do you. But do not come in here demanding that the only correct way to celebrate the holidays is how you do it. Because that is blatantly incorrect.

And further more, how do you think Christmas music happens? Do you think musicians wait until after American Thanksgiving to start practicing that stuff? Of course they don’t! Big preparations take time, and there is not a lot of time between American Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sorry/not sorry to pop your bubble on this concept, but many musicians start practicing their Christmas music in October, even September. I started planning and purchasing Christmas sheet music in August. That’s how Christmas music happens—that far in advance. Just be thankful (hey, there’s that gratitude word!) that there are people who want to shower others with so much Christmas cheer that they’ll voluntarily give up their time very early on in order to prepare for Christmas, rather than pointing fingers and snidely alluding that the Early Christmas Cheer people are materialistic gimme pigs. We’re actually spending more time in service to others by getting the Christmas Town Express going early, and that’s…decidedly unmaterialistic, right?

/soapbox (I’m so tired of this argument that, really, shouldn’t even exist.)

Creating

I have found time to start working on the Band Fundraiser table runners this week. I’ve got most of the fabric cut up and I’ve ironed what I have on-hand and have done the first round of sewing on one (1) table runner. I hope the future organizers of this event don’t get tired of the table runners and get rid of them in a few years. They’re turning out quite nice and could potentially last for years if they’re treated well.

I made a little bit of progress on the secret Christmas knitting, too.

Community

I am hitting some major walls with church music. I shall remain optimistic through this weekend and if things don’t sort themselves out I’m going to have to alter my plans. Once again, but for a different crowd this time, how do you think Christmas music happens? A big part of that is people being willing to be a part of church choir. If you’ve ever wondered about joining your church’s choir, stop wondering and just do it. We’re desperate for you. DESPERATE.

Healing

I’m almost there, I can feel it. I yo-yo back and forth between overdoing it and needing to take time to rest from the overdoing, which is always a good sign that points towards a “nearing full recovery” kind of thing. I’m glad I wrote about it this time around so I can look back and see the glacial pace and know that it’s completely normal. Six weeks of inactivity is a really long time. You don’t think it is when people throw that timeline around, but laying around for that long is mind-numbingly boring. I guess I should be thankful that I’m feeling like bursting my prison right as Christmas Season begins. What a glorious reward!

Highlights

Halloween was noisy and fun. I love hosting all these kids at our house.
I made a beautiful pumpkin soup this week that was so delicious.
The best idea came to me at church: At the end of each month, sit down with your spouse and schedule all your weekly date nights for the entire next month. So simple, but it’s literally never occurred to me. When I approached Michael with the idea, he improved it by saying we could align our four dates each month with the four goal-setting areas of the Church’s youth program in order to expand our horizons a little more. So, a date night dedicated to 1) Spiritual, 2) Intellectual, 3) Physical, and 4) Social pursuits each month. In months with five Fridays we’ll have a family date, which are the most expensive dates of them all, but you know, kids deserve some fun times out with their parents, too.

Lowlights

Renaissance got her car stuck in the mud when she went out with friends to a haunted house this last week. Thankfully, Michael came to her rescue. Where would we be without good dads?

Feral Choir Concert Toddler

October 26, 2024October 30, 20242 Comments

Seeing how I posted my goals for the week on Wednesday, the chance that I’d make significant progress on them was small. It’s just been such a busy week, and with needing to still rest when I start feeling tired I just don’t have a lot of time for the extra things. It’s a frustrating place to find oneself, but nothing terrible will happen as a result. I would just like to be able to do all the things, is that too much to ask?! 😉

Top priorities this past week:

Processing the garden harvest
Ward Choir logistics
Band Booster everythings
Walks
Secret Christmas knitting

Caring

Rachel had her first choir concert of the year on Tuesday and it was really lovely. I love seeing how much kids can do after only a handful of weeks into the school year. Even the freshman choir sounded great!

Unfortunately, the family that sat behind us at the concert had a free-range toddler who pulled out some of my hair, and when I turned towards whatever the heck had yanked hair out of my scalp the offender wetly sneezed directly onto my eyeballs.

Zero stars. Would not recommend. It got even worse later on when the toddler tripped and smashed its face into the back of my seat and screamed their anguish into my ear. I was very glad when the concert finally ended and I got to go home.

Nathaniel had his last cross country meet today and he did SO GOOD. He placed TENTH in his race with a time of 20:00.0. He wanted a 19-minute-anything time so badly, but alas…ha ha ha. Considering that he ran his first race of the season with a time of 23:03.0, I think he can safely be pleased with his progress over the season.

Garden

I think all we managed to work on after all the work at the beginning of the week was to get the last pumpkin roasted and pureed. I did go to the store and purchase ingredients to make Green Tomato Mincemeat, but the excursion made my incisions hurt, so I decided to rest a bit before continuing with my plans. Unfortunately, I started feeling crummy that evening, and I woke up Friday morning feeling awful and ended up sleeping most of the day away. I think I was fighting off whatever the Choir Toddler sneezed into my face. I needed to do a bunch of other stuff today, so I still haven’t gotten to the mincemeat.

Community

The church Halloween party was last night and Rachel and Renaissance helped out with the face painting. Renaissance also took over getting our van ready for trunk or treating once it became obvious that I would not be attending the party due to feeling so yucky, and she did a delightful job!

Ward Choir logistics were dealt with this week and we’ll have sheet music to sing from tomorrow as long as I remember to make copies in the morning. I also ordered all of the Christmas sheet music and expect it to arrive next week, and I could cry over how much it all cost, but if I can get everyone I want to help out with the Christmas program it will be amazing. I am very excited about the possibilities.

I did not get to Band Booster stuff, but it’s high on my list of priorities for next week. The fabric for the table runners should arrive Tuesday afternoon, so I guess I’ll start sewing up table runners on Wednesday or Thursday. (Boring! But needed.)

Health

I went on zero walks this week. Between getting over the cold from last week and dealing with the Choir Toddler flash illness this week I just haven’t had the energy to do much more than some halfhearted office-y work from the couch. I’m doing my best, folks.

Healing from my surgeries is feeling good. One of my incisions is healing a little slower than it should so I have to do some extra care for that three times a day, but it looks like it’s working and the wound is finally closing up. Grocery shopping really tired me out on Wednesday, so I’m still working towards having more energy. It’ll come back.

Creativity

I worked on my not-secret knitting for a little while before Rachel’s choir concert. Emily and I went on a little yarn crawl together in July and I saw a skein of self-striping yarn in perfect Christmas colors and I had to have it. I’m making some adorable Christmas socks for myself from it and adding in solid red heels and toes because it’s perfect. I’m almost done with knitting up the heel flap of the first sock. I love that you can take the downtime of daily life (like waiting for a concert to begin) and use it to get further along on a project, rather than wasting that time looking at a phone. More crafting in public is needed! Join the cause!

I didn’t work on anything else due to the aforementioned ickiness that prevailed all week. I’m falling so far behind! Fingers crossed for a healthy new week!

Highlights

When Nathaniel came running over the crest of the hill before the finish line in his race, way before I expected to see him.
The huge smile on Rachel’s face when we handed her the bouquet of flowers after her choir concert.
How cute the van looked after Renaissance finished decorating it for the Halloween party.
Emily brought me Panda Express for lunch one day as she came home from running errands because she thought I’d like it.

Lowlights

The Feral Choir Concert Toddler :::squinty side-eye:::
Two illnesses in one week

Despite all the illnesses, I AM getting stronger and feeling better each week, so that’s good. Michael and I both are really excited for how much better I could potentially feel in my daily life once I get all healed up. Ugh, the amount of pain and lost days I’ve had to deal with for the past ten years is gobsmacking. And it could just be over now. Maybe. That’s incredibly exciting. We shall see…

I’ll leave you with a photo that Nathaniel texted me while he was out on a run this week. I may not be getting out a lot to enjoy this beautiful autumn weather, but my kids send me pretty pictures of it, for which I’m grateful. There’s always happy little glimmers to make one smile…