The Rooster in Profile

25 yards of tulle on the roll... 25 yards of tulle..

Cut some off and wrap it around, and


voila! A birthday tutu to be worn around.

I had seen several of these tutus for sale on Etsy recently, and wondered to myself if I could beat the $12 price tag. Um....yeah, how about $3? The elastic is recycled from my mom's sewing room, and the remaining ribbon will find new life on someone's lovely package, ...or an art project... or sewn on a pillow.... yea!. I found all the ribbon at Hobby Lobby for 50% off, and picked different widths and colors. At first I was concerned that the yellow would be too wide, but I think it adds to the whimsy. How wonderful. I'm especially thrilled to know it's not a one-time affair as it will soon be joined by other items in a dress up box.

Now if the birthday girl will just take her nap!!, I can go back to my regularly scheduled household chores.

Mental Health Knit Sit

I am finishing work on a project and felt like watching a movie while I did so.

I love a good suspense and the Agatha Christie heritage sucked me in. This has been on my DVR for over a month, but you know how sometimes you just have to be in the mood for an old movie? I settled in with my bamboo needles and project at the ready, and found myself thoroughly engrossed in what TCM calls one of "The Essentials". They were right. Surprisingly, it is not only clever with a twist, but funny in parts that are still relevant today. Enjoy!

On the nightstand

"The Attentive Life" by Leighton Ford




This book was recommended to me by a former college pastor and I have loved every page of it so far! It describes how the divine hours are prayed throughout the day and the parallels to our Christian "hours" on earth. What I have liked about it thus far is how you begin to see the seamless thread of Christ throughout your life. It is not a thread that is always largely visible, but the attentiveness to His work in you and your calling to the work in your world. I think this is especially helpful as the work that I am called to right now is busily mundane. But it is a calling all the same and this book has helped me see it's importance and long reaching scope.

OH! There it is!

Pancakes in my hair.... peaches everywhere!


Drinking milk, gleefully, makes me one happy momma!



So, what have we been into this week?

-holding Cheerios above our heads and wheezing; this sounds like choking, causes me to run, and her to giggle
-flipping pages in books so voraciously that we get paper cuts
-getting a new twin bed that must last until Madeline goes to college
-missing morning naps and my sanity
-holing up in our bathroom during a tornado watch (what exactly should be in my emergency kit? Where is Toto, Dorothy Gail?)
-yoga-agony, miss a week, pay in stiffness for two

Ready.. or not?

We've been spending a lot of time around here getting the house ready to sell. This weekend we made some measurable progress.


We got rid of the old full mattress that was my box spring and Jeff's mattress; circa 1970s. To our delight we found out that the frame converts down to a twin size. Hooray for a few dollars saved! The new twin mattress is being bought this week and will be Madeline's at the next house. I just have to get the rest of the linens and set it up.




I'm decluttering and finding out that I have way more stuff than necessary. Our attic still has some room left, but we will be storing stuff in the garage too. I have a whole chest of drawers in one of our closets, and a red fabric ottoman that never made it to the family room b/c of Lady Spit up.




Madeline is checking on the progress being made outside. Jeff managed to get the front porch painted Saturday; now onto mulch, back porch, inside trim.....

Hopefully we will have it ready by mid March. Now, if we can just figure out where we want to move to.

A Favorite

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who sings beautifully and is pregnant with her first. I had to rave and rave over an artist that I was introduced to: Elizabeth Mitchell.

If you want to have a quick introduction to her; check out this interview with her from NPR.

Communion Prep Sunday

So I've dropped one committee at church and gained another... sacraments. Yesterday, I got a last minute call to set up for the 9am service, which for me means getting to church at 8. Not too big of a deal with the help of my husband; the baby wrangler.

It takes me about an hour moving at a fairly quick pace to set up for communion. Six trays filled with wine & grape juice, 6 bread trays, chalice, and refill stations. I really enjoy being there early in the quiet and making the bread at home. Feels very Old Testament. :)

Last week as we left church I saw a sign at a new local favorite restaurant; Big Fatty's. It was Sunday Brunch from 9-2. I love breakfast and locally owned businesses, but having worked too many Sundays in my own life, hate making other people work for me on a Sunday. This Sunday I threw my Phariseeism (is that a word?) out the window. We pulled in for brunch about 10:45. As soon as we were situated, the waitress brought out fresh strawberry muffins for us to eat. Here's the visual: golden brown mini muffins drizzled with fresh strawberries and juice, with just a slight dash of powdered sugar. Oh happy day.

Maddie ate pieces off of whatever muffins we were willing to spare her, along with some banana and Cheerios. Jeff got shrimp and grits with cornbread, and I got a seafood omelet with a biscuit, hashbrowns, and gravy. Now, if you were to ask me, I would say that I don't like gravy of any sort. But our friends at Big Fatty's silently slipped a little sampler of it onto my plate. It sat there steaming and demanded a hashbrown to be dunked in. These were not the frozen hasbrowns, mind you, but the cut-up potato farm version. Fabulous! Madeline seemed to enjoy it too. Considering she only has a few teeth stubs, that girl can bite into a biscuit! This may be a new communion serving tradition.