So simple, a child can do it!

I've been thinking about the kinds of life-changing events that are based on choices we make, and how different those events can look. Take a marriage, for instance; typically, you take several months (or weeks, or years, depending on the engagement) ironing out the details of the wedding day, choosing what you're going to wear, how you're going to celebrate, etc. After the wedding, there is so much to get used to: moving in and setting up a house or apartment, living with this new spouse, figuring out how to mesh what each of you considers normal, deciding who will take on what responsibilities, and so on. For a baby, planned or not, it's quite different. You get as prepared as you can, but unless you're having a C-section, you don't actually know the day your child will arrive. And afterwards, it's even more of an adjustment than marriage, because you are entirely responsible for a tiny helpless creature, and if you're the one who gave birth to it, your body is also recovering.

Our darling girl D made a life-changing decision last night. It's something we've been praying for ever since she was born. Unlike a wedding or a birth, there aren't any material gifts that come along with it, but the intangible reward is eternal. On her own, she asked how she could put her trust in Jesus. I talked with her about it, to make sure she understood what she was doing. She knows that she is a sinner, and that her wrong actions, words, attitudes, separate her from God who is so holy that he can't be around sin. She understands that God's people used to sacrifice animals to say sorry for their sins, but that Jesus was the perfect and final sacrifice, because he came and lived a perfect, sinless life and died a sacrificial death to pay the penalty for our sins. And now, anyone who believes that he died and rose again, can live to please God on earth, and go to heaven when they die. So it was that last night, she prayed and asked Jesus to be her Saviour.

Hubby and I are overjoyed that she has made this decision at such a young age. Appropriately, it was on Palm Sunday, when the crowds shouted Hosanna (save us now) to Jesus as he entered Jerusalem for the Passover. It was also a child dedication Sunday at church, when families present their children and the church pledges with them to bring them up in the knowledge of the Lord, praying that they will accept Christ as soon as they are able to understand. D's own dedication was almost exactly four years ago. Praise God for providing salvation for sinners, and for making it simple enough for a child to grasp!

D's dedication day, May 2010

Marching right along

Not surprisingly, we aren't going anywhere for March break. Hubby's work and school schedule are starting to get hectic, and the weather has only just turned mild, so it's a great week for a staycation. I had a number of things in mind that I wanted to do with D off school this week, and the girls have been really enjoying themselves! Here's what we've gotten up to.

Friday: Playdate with a friend of D's from school, who conveniently has a sister the same age as M (and was actually in M's swimming class, which wrapped up on Thursday). They played indoors and outdoors a bit after lunch, and M fell asleep in the car on the 10-minute drive home!

Saturday: Amazing day. My family will laugh their heads off over this, as I was never a big fan of downhill skiing. After not being able to ski up at my parents' cottage in February, I was keen to get D out at least once this year. There's a ski hill only half an hour from our house, and kids under 6 are free, so we went with my dad on Saturday morning. It went incredibly well. Both girls ended up skiing, I think, close to 10 runs. Last year D made it down the hill twice, it was so cold. On Saturday, it was just above zero, which was perfect for all of us to be outdoors. We did have to get rentals, so that took awhile. It was so worth it to see how much they loved skiing! We went inside for hot chocolate and snacks, and I was expecting them to be pretty much done. My dad asked D if she wanted to go back out, and she did! And to our surprise, so did M! That was lucky, because that was when the ski hill's mascots came out, and M got to hug and high five them, and ride up behind them on the magic carpet. On D's last run, she skiied down next to my dad, holding his hand. I cheered and took video of almost every run.

Once we got home and had lunch, everyone went down for naps. Hubby was kind and allowed me some extra sleep by taking the girls down to play in the basement after they woke up. So then I could be kind and make black bean quinoa burgers with honey oat buns and sweet potato fries for dinner. I had already started the elaborate two-hour prep when Hubby came upstairs to ask what I was making. When I told him, he said that was exactly what he was going to ask for! Despite the long prep and cooking time, it's one of our favourite meals. Surprising for a picky eater.

Sunday: Hubby stayed home for the day to work on one of his courses; the girls and I went to church, then met up with my parents and drove to a local horse farm where they had a buffet breakfast and sleigh rides! They only run this on Sundays from February til Easter, and again the weather was perfect.We went back to my parents' for the afternoon and stayed for a lovely steak dinner. The girls were so delighted to have Grandma home! And of course to see Grandpa again.

Today: We took our sweet time getting up and ready for the day, and the girls even slept in a bit! That was due to the time change, I think, or maybe the later bedtimes recently. We had baking powder biscuits and kiwis for breakfast, and headed out to a nearby mall for their free March break kids' program. The girls decorated paper Egyptian necklaces and bracelets with markers, glue, and sequins, ate fortune cookies, and D participated in the group yoga exercises. They're doing different activities every day this week, but this was the only morning we could have made it, so I'm glad we did. After quiet time, we'll be going over to my parents' again, this time for a sleepover! Our March break is off to a solid start.

Getting started

Magic carpet selfie

D collapses from exhaustion/silliness; M assumes a judgy expression

Aaaaand she's out

Happy Shrove Tuesday!

I am usually an enthusiastic participant when it comes to Shrove Tuesday, although I don't follow it up by observing Lent. I mostly enjoy the breakfast-for-dinner aspect, and the proximity to Easter and spring. (Do we still get spring in this part of the country? It seems unlikely at this point in time, but that may be the daily walks to the bus stop talking. I so preferred hibernating!)

My lucky mom remains in Toronto with the new grandson, who we met this weekend and is absolutely perfect and gorgeous and gaining weight at an unbelievable speed and didn't pee on me once during the three diaper changes I administered. So, tonight we will feast with my dad. The usual spread includes fruit salad, sausages, orange juice and pancakes (plain or blueberry). Gourmande that I am, I wanted to eat pancakes more than once today, so we had Smitten Kitchen's carrot cake pancakes for lunch! They took a little while to cook, but were they ever worth it. I then made the mistake of perusing her site a bit longer, and now have several cravings to add to the growing list.

That's cream cheese icing, and a little bit of maple syrup for dipping. I may have eaten a cookie for dessert. No one will be surprised if I birth another giant baby.

The other thing I appreciated about today was that, for the first time since she started school, I did not have to pack a snack for D today. (I know, I know, I haven't even had to pack daily lunches yet!) They had pancakes at school. I love the Catholic board!

Another recent special event at school was Crazy Hair Day, which D explained could also be Pretty Hair Day, and she asked me to curl her hair. By the time she got off the bus, the curls had settled into waves. In case you're wondering, she does dress herself.

Year of No New Yarn 2.0

To recap, here's the yarn I started out with:

And here's what I have today:

Plus this. (The Wool-Ease was purchased for me, the beige was a gift, and the gold and navy were bought in January. All legit.)

Now, let's see what that yarn turned into. Starting with big things.

Sweaters:

 Mum-in-law's mohair sweater, finished in January.

 My Blackberry cardigan, finished in April.

Hubby's Old-Man Cardy, finished this week.

M's Delilah dress, finished in September.

D's Kindergarten cardigan, finished in July

D's Whirligig Shrug, finished in May

Mom's Tangled Ribs, finished in May (despite appearances here; my mom wears it a lot, just never when I have a camera around)

Socks:

Mom's Jaywalkers, finished in January

Diana's Striped socks (pre-washing and blocking, hence the distorted look), finished in May

Now, some smaller accessories:

Rachel's Fingerless gloves (above, finished in February for her birthday) and a braided headband to match (below, finished in August). 

Gryffindor hat for baby Griffin, finished in April

Lucas' football hat, finished in February

 

Hubby's Koolhaas hat, finished in March.

 

D's bow headband, finished in October

 

Cottage dolls, finished in July, moved to their new home a few weeks ago.

 

Then there was that bunch of finishing I did for the late Frances. I didn't manage to take before and after pictures for everything, but here's what it typically looked like:

In all, there were five things I finished. That green dress at the bottom was the trickiest; there was only one sleeve knit, so I had to figure out the gauge and the pattern and replicate it.

 

 

 

I sewed a bit this year, or gave the illusion of doing so. Here are tutus I made for the girls, which are now quite ratty, but looked splendid when they were freshly finished.

 

I made two of these bow-tie onesies, one for a cousin and one for a friend. I guess I should add one for my new nephew!

Not pictured in the knitting roundup: 

-two sets of Aviatrix hats and bootees (one in gray, one in green)

-two Baby Sophisticates (one in Hudson Bay colours, one in pink)

-two pairs of gray fingerless gloves with pullover caps (one for Hubby, one for my brother)

-a beard hat

-Hubby's black socks

-a pair of fingerless pullover gloves and eternity scarf for my crafty gift exchange recipient, Sarah 

-two cabled hats (a red one for a little guy named Zach, and a purple one for me)

I'm pretty sure I knit more this year than I did in 2010, on my last year of no yarn. And that was when I only had D to look after! I'm very pleased with what I was able to accomplish, and with the bit of space I've gained from condensing the yarn stash. I have plans for some of what's left, including sending some off to the thrift store. I figure if I've had it for more than two years and I haven't made something of it, I'm not likely to.

The very first things for which I bought yarn in 2014 have been baby sweaters, and that trend will definitely continue. I have my nephew to consider, and my own baby, as well as about half a dozen others that are due this year. My next yarn ban will have to wait for a couple of years, I think!

The day that was February 20th

What an unbelievable day it's been here! Things started out badly, with Hubby's car getting t-boned on his way to work (bright side: he is unhurt, and wasn't at fault), but improved greatly. On a minor note, I suffered an equipment malfunction (my circular knitting needle broke), but I was able to conjure up a spare from my interchangeable set. The sleeves are done, and the collar should be finished tomorrow, if I'm lucky. That would give me the weekend to sew it all up. And find buttons.

Our Canadian women performed beautifully in Sochi today, winning gold in curling and hockey, and I was able to watch a good chunk of each! The hockey had me on the edge of my seat, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I openly wept after each Canadian goal. I could not believe they managed a win, but they totally earned it.

I was texting my pregnant sister throughout the last minutes of the game, and shortly after it finished, she called me on Skype. And what do you know, she was holding her new baby on her lap! Again, much crying ensued (from me; baby was super sleepy). She had him at 2:30 am at the brand-new birthing centre, and was home just a few hours later, looking incredibly healthy and happy. My beautiful nephew absolutely made my day. I will be knitting a blanket with his name and birth date next, I believe, and visiting him as soon as our schedule permits.

A simplified Christmas

After a hectic fall, I was nonetheless excited to head into the Christmas season. I had my little Word document checklist of all the things we had planned for December. We had three parties to attend, and a couple of other fun events, like a birthday party for one of D's classmates, and a craft night at my friend Jasmine's. And of course there was D's school concert, for which Hubby took time off work. But this year we kept it pretty simple.

Decorations: for the first time, we had a real tree, and it did not die in my care! We got it for free through our mortgage broker: she holds an annual client appreciation event at a local Christmas tree farm. We had fun riding the "traptor", as M calls it, and choosing our tree. It fits quite nicely in our living room bay window. The girls helped me decorate it, and would periodically re-assign ornaments to different branches. The breakable ones were up high enough that they couldn't be reached. We also had a cute felt advent calendar on the wall, and the girls would take turns adding a piece every day. The girls also had chocolate advent calendars to open each morning. We had a wreath on the door, ribbon on the bannister, and two nativity sets up on the mantle, with Christmas cards nestled all around them.

Gifts: we kept to the 4 items rule of something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read. This year, though, we are two days past Christmas and the girls have not yet opened all their presents. Last year, they (or specifically D) were overwhelmed by presents from Hubby and me, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. By the end of the 25th, D had begun asking people "do you have a present for me?" Not an attitude we found cute, to put it mildly. So instead of opening everything at once, we've been staggering things. D and M had many gifts to open at Grandma and Grandpa's on Christmas morning. The next day, we Skyped Nana and Poppa to open their gifts. Today, we opened gifts from one of my aunts. They still have three things from us and one each from Grandma and Grandpa left. The gifts are much better loved and appreciated when the girls can actually play with them right away, rather than being rushed on to the next shiny thing.

Omitted: I've been tired enough that making dinner has been about all I can manage. I opted out of most Christmas baking, although my sister was kind enough to make us some peanut butter-marshmallow squares when she was here! I did make monkey bread for breakfast on Christmas morning, and the girls helped. We also didn't get around to taking a family photo or sending out Christmas cards... maybe we'll do that for Valentine's Day or something. I didn't finish the sweater I've been working on for Hubby in time for Christmas. I didn't even pretend to start making stockings for each member of my family!

None of these things really matter, and it's taken me this many years to understand that. In the past, I've had such high expectations for Christmas, and if anything went wrong, I thought it would ruin the day. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, or because I have kids and I know that things can go wrong without ruining an entire event. I read so many blogs where people work so hard to make everything perfect for the holidays, and it seems like a lot of wasted effort to me. This year, we did the things we wanted to do, for the people we love, and cut the dross. We spent a lot of time talking with the girls about what the gift of Jesus at Christmas really means; we explained who Saint Nicholas was, and mostly stayed away from the emphasis on Santa and elves on the shelves. Everyone seemed to be quite content with that.

How knitters celebrate the Olympics

Last winter Olympics, I took part in the unofficial knitter's version, now called the Ravellenic Winter Games. The point is to challenge yourself and try to complete something between the opening and closing ceremonies. It was 2010, and I had a new baby girl, so I made her a sweet little lacy sweater that she wore a few times, and later passed it on to her sister. I have many memories of nursing D on the couch, watching various Olympic events on our own or with family/friends, weeping at our first men's and women's gold medals (Alexandre Bilodeau and Maelle Ricker, respectively).

This time around, while I have more than enough babies to knit for, I'm going to push myself to finish the sweater I started for Hubby in October. It's a gorgeous thing, but I've been losing steam, so maybe this is just what I need to get it done. The body is finished so all I need to do is:

-complete the sleeves
-work the shawl collar
-sew on buttons
-weave in loose ends

That might not sound like much, but it's a LOT to do in the next two and a half weeks.

Especially with cute distractions like these.

Wish me luck!