baby shower details



Up close...


Last night I hosted a baby shower at my house. A friend helped with planning and executing and we made a good team.

I had a good time getting ready for the shower,even if it was teeny compared to some! It was a good reason to do some cleaning projects that are difficult to get motivated with...
I've read, I believe, that homes that frequently host stay cleaner and I would say that it has been true in our home,since we have people over and coming through fairly often it helps keep us motivated.

I strung fishing line through my dining room and hung bows of pink ribbon from it. I hung a couple strands of  sparkly silver stars etc. around as well.
Then besides some other little touches, I had my new banner pictued above.

The banner is made of clothes that were unuseable due to various factors. I saved up until I had enough to make the banner. Then I borrowed a friend's pinking shears and made the above no-sew version.(I think I'll make a sewn version next..)

Anyway, we had a lovely time and played funny games and it was a meaningful time!

I got a real high from the fact that the decorations cost so very little and turned out quite well!
The fishing line and sparkly stars were gotten for very little at the sale of a wedding coordinator going out of biz.
The clothes were headed nowhere good before they ended up in the banner.
And so on and so forth.
I adore taking what most people think is junk and turning it into lovely and having meaningful times without a huge expenditure!

I think my bed is caaaaalling my name!

What has your weekend been full of?
                                        ~pilgrimama

redeemed jeans and rain dancing

my sewing kit

Today I created some new summer shorts for Alex. For some reason I am so happy about that. Lee's coworker gave us a gift certificate to Michael's,that crafty wonderland o' goodies. And so I invested in a good sewing scissors for the first time in my  life.
Well, I felt like it paid off a little today!
My sons always seem to be wearing ratty old pants by the end of the winter,and I have no desire to buy new pants since shorts season is right around the corner.
Usually some shorts still fit from last summer's clothes.
But we usually are low in the shorts department at the beginning of the warm season.
Enter sewing scissors.
Enter ratty jeans.
Aaaaaand.....new shorts.
Cut-offs! Yeah.
I know what you may be thinking." Not too neat and tidy of her."
But my backyard is like a miniature woods with a creek some of the time.
Who wants to have the newer clothes all beat up climbing trees, playing soccer, etc. etc.?
Not so much.
So, yes,I'm excited about being able to cut thick denim jeans and turn them into playclothes.
Next up: girl shorts!
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We went to a birthday celebration last night.
We picniced outside!
Many of us danced in the rain.
It was very simple and really beautiful.
Oh, and there was a GORGEOUS sunset.
The birthday boy said it was "tragic".

Over and out!
                                                                                   ~pilgrimama

resting and grateful



my couch

This past week has had many wonderful moments.
I once again got to experience the amazingness that is the sunrise service on a hilltop!
I made hotcross buns again!
Curry was prepared for the annual Easter lunch for one and all at church....
Bread animals were shaped, eggs of different types made their way into the house.
Lots of unleavened bread was eaten and glasses of grape juice drunk!
Singing, silence, washing of feet.
So much illustration of The Great Story.
We rejoice that our Jesus is not Dead but Alive.
And that is beyond words wonderful.
But, can this mama say that all this remembering and illustrating and celebrating also involves a lot of energy?
So, today the above picture shows another thing I am grateful for in this time.
A soft place to rest!

Soon  I will show you pictures of things that were made,Lord willing!

Happy Monday!
                                                                :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::~pilgrimama:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

a low-cost date night

Date night -fun and easy:

1. One good film from the library,
2. One candle,

Personal size pizzas, 2 for a dollar.

Put children to bed. (There can even be a guest sleeping in your house,which just goes to show how do-able this is.)
And you have a very low-cost,date night without babysitter fees or any of that miserable bizness!

Date nights or even date hour is possible with a bit of thinking out of the box!
                  ~pilgrimama
          

a rainy saturday in the sage house

We awoke to pouring rain this morning.
Unfortunately some of my laundry was wet!
Well,well....

Lee made us his specialty fish for breakfast this morning. The children were less than excited. The fish is not my favorite but I am not one to complain when my husband makes breakfast without being asked to.

Alex and I hung our new black and white art piece we purchased at an educational talk we attended the other night.

I started the fire to take the chill off of things. It's pretty cozy around here in our big, sage green fixer upper house.
Praise God for family, adequate food, warmth, a dry place when the rain comes down.

We have a new neighbor and by the looks of it, another good one. He is newly widowed and we are looking forward to sharing some homecooked food sometimes.
 Which means I should soon compile a shopping list so we can make a carry-in spaghetti dinner.....
12:21- I should heat up some of the good soup a friend sweetly gifted us yesterday. (One of my favorites,chicken,veggies,barley!)
Happy Saturday!
                                                                           ~pilgrimama

back from women's retreat!



purse made in Africa by women in the Watoto ministry

 This past weekend (basically two days and two nights!) I went on retreat with many of the women from our church family. It was amazing and so worth it. Many thanks to the organizers of this event!
So much learning, sharing, and pure beauty!

          A verse from one of the songs we were gifted :

Dark are the branches reaching for light
High is the path of the hawk in its flight
Turning and gliding greeting the night
Why do we hunger for beauty?

 Wish I could freely share more,but I'm not sure of the copyright stuff here soooo- click on the link!
The song title is Why Do We Hunger for Beauty by Jim Croegaert.
This Youtube video doesn't have the whole song but there are some that do....
This was so beautiful as we studied both the pain we bring to Jesus and the Beauty of who He is as our theme was Hope and Despair.
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I have been drinking chapparral tea for health's sake. This stuff is bitter!
 The town now has flowers in abundance! Our backyard has so many violets!
Library Day for us today!
Happy Thursday!
                                                         ~pilgrimama

activities for the one to two crowd(amidst other words on this page)

Sometimes I think i just have too many ideas swirling around in my head to ever become a scheduled housekeeper.
I have ideas begging to be birthed and be tangible things and amidst all that creative longing it's hard to focus on dirty dishes and floors that need mopping etc.
So today I am cleaning The Kitchen Corner Of Shame again.
I find lots of ideas there in what looks like a mere pile of clutter.
Papers with phone numbers, contact information, lists of things to be done, stuff to see, half-finished projects.
It's great.
But again, how to find the time to process and produce using all this data?
I have made a dent.
And from the Pile I found a list.
I think I will share it here.
Maybe someone else will benefit too.
At very least it will have jumped from my head and it's precarious state as a list on my messy countertop to a place on the blog, where it is in more solid form.
I don't know if I 'm making much sense.
So here:
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Activity list for the one-almost two year old crowd:
-a bin of plastic animals,lots and lots! One of my best toy collections,still being used by all four of my children.
-blocks and wooden animals.(We have since added a wooden barn and I bet that would go over well.)
-a tot sized chair and a basket of board books. Rotate these-don't put them all out at once-that way they can stay relatively fresh.
- bristle blocks- link here!
-a doll or maybe some play people of some kind.
-i had a container of mixed cards of different types-this is really messy though but provided diversion sometimes.
-nature movies or Winnie the Pooh. Yeah,yeah.Just keep it for when you really need a few minutes to put up your feet or make an important phone call. As I say, a sane mother with a movie going sometimes is probably better than a frazzled mama who never uses the box on occasion. (And I like Winnie the Pooh. Rabbit is my favorite!)
Time,Time,Time. The big thing for children of this age. Let them do things with you, sit them near you as you work and talk to them about what you're doing.
Snuggle as often as possible!

Our Squirrelgirl is 3 headed toward 4. The busy days of that kind are not part of our life right now. But this list may help me one day again or maybe it will help out some other busy mama.
Being a mom is a great job!
P.s. I added a Google search bar to my sidebar. In the amazing event that anyone should ever want to search this here blog...
                                                              love,
                                                             ~pilgrimama

a letter to my son



..making paper airplanes from a kit

Dear son, Jesse,
          Thank-you for washing the dishes once again yesterday without being told.
That makes me so happy!

I am glad you like making paper airplanes. I am also glad we have a neighbor who comes to help you make them. I am not so good at stuff like that.

Please could you please keep your "relistens" of Hank the Cowdog to a minimum today?
That would make me happy too!

Now, I'll go finish making oatmeal and also make a chocolate cake with little paper parasols stuck in the icing.
                               Love,
                    Your mom,Pilgrimama

Welcome April!

Welcome April!
 We were coming home from a little road trip in the wee hours this morning of April 1st.

Snow came down.
In our part of the world?
Snow?
Will we have April showers? Snow showers?
We've already had quite a bit of rain...
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We are having a vacation day here.
Over and out!
                             ~pilgrimama