wearable science

a finished shirt...

we made spokes of color with Sharpie markers,and then dripped rubbing alcohol on it to produce these CD like images..

We discovered this cool science website, complete with how-to videos. We thought the sharpie -rubbing alcohol on t-shirts was up our alley.
Check out http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/ to try this at your house...

drawing spokes.....

And,if you'd rather try something like sewing, the Sew, Mama,Sew blog has a great list of sewing projects to do with your little ones. http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=867

Why do I have "dry" spells in blogging and then blog back to back? Go figure,though blogging does help me keep organized.

So long! In His Love,

Pilgrimama

more birthday talk....

So, I finally talk about the birthday.... here's a sweet card lineup........

a flurry of unwrapping,

And here's that microwave cart I recently redid! It was a brown laminate cart,a sweet gift from a friend. But I like a very soothing feel around the house and it seemed the laminate and me were having a hard time getting along. So I sanded it down and used some "found" buckets of paint and bit of blue acrylic craft paint to get the finished product. More soothing,no??

Anyway,my birthday was lovely,filled with love,family, new friends,gifts and a lovely time spent together as a family in a nearby arboretum. We explored the labyrinth, picked a few remaining blackberries, and fed the ducks,catfish,and turtles,who all eagerly jockeyed to be fed.

Lee and the boys were wonderful,pulling it all off quite well. It was quite the birthday and completely done,our family style! They took me to a nearby thrift shop which is the best. It was shutting down for a bit to do renovations so most things were 50% off . So as you can imagine,I got some nifty deals!

So here's to love and charity, peace, joy, and all those fruits for the coming year, however the Lord leads.

In His Love!

Pilgrimama

a birthday post...

."..and be closer drawn to thee"..
It has been a good birthday.
Twenty seven years have taught me many important things.
Thank-you God for "amazing grace".

More birthday recap later...
In His Love,
Pilgrimama

from my new workbench...

a gift for a preteen girl...

an almost completed gift basket for a twin baby girl...

and another almost completed basket for the twin baby brother!

Lee and I rescued a wooden desk from the curbside awhile back. He painted it for me and set up in it's proper home, but it had a big old cupboard thing on top of it for a while. The cupboard finally was sent off to a new home and I have a space!

Maybe one day soon I will have it photogenic enough to post here!

In His Love,

Pilgrimama

list of good foods for almost two year olds

according to the little one: Soup!!!

string beans

cookies

Lee and I collaborated on a large cream of asparagus soup today to serve to the staff and residents at the home where he works. We all piled in and ate with Daddy at work,which we do on occasion. As it turned out, the pictured small person thought the soup was wonderful. It really was.

In His Love,

Pilgrimama

standin' by the stuff

In real life : I label my cupboards so the small kitchen helpers can get it right,

I make up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch,with probably apple slices on the side,

I see and handle and empty so many of these,

I rinse and see dishes to be rinsed over and over and over,(I'm glad when they're at the rinsing stage!),

my sink fills over and over daily with this type of thing.( I decided to edit my stove pictures out of these.I wasn't sure how people would feel about me after those.Maybe someday if I'm brave.)

My days are filled with these types of things and many more. Potty training,weaning, giving reading lessons over and over,investing in children and a home is often repetitive,grimy,wet and weary work.

I find it interesting how God takes girls like me,who would find the idea of working in a library,a studio,something like that, a dream workplace, and sets them to the task of being mamas.No quiet work,that.

What does He want us to learn?

Standin' by the stuff often means being unselfish, thorough,diligent,sensitive to the atmosphere of the home,patient in so many ways,seeing the beauty in people(oh,they are so beautiful when we're not too tired to see it) and being content with what our Father has provided.

And in learning all these things we start seeing purpose emerging from all the grime and elbow grease and sleep deprivation.

It's helpful and inspiring to start glimpsing a purpose. It's also awesome to start finding the learning of these traits a beautiful thing.

So our Abba has been showing me recently to not only stand by the stuff faithfully,but stand by it gladly! To revel in the tasks of being a mama. It's a good and high calling.

May He bless you all,as you learn to "stand by the stuff" wherever you are!

In His Love,

Pilgrimama

home(kind of) alone

I find myself home with only these characters roaming the castle today-the knights have found more challenging places to conquer for the day....

this one definitely needs lessons on being queenly! Or do queens read calculator riddles??

This good knight left his pajamas at home. No worries. Knights probably don't use pajamas. We musn't let this particular one know the part about bathing once a year or something like that which this mother has heard about. He might think that a dream come true.

This one is quite friendly as thou canst see. He sought to spice up a photo session of the gap in his teeth. Not too knightly of him...

I am a servant girl who resides in the castle. Today one of my tasks is a paint job on a microwave cart. Since I am a modern servant girl,thou wilt see pictures of the completed cart when tis finished,if the Lord wills.

And now,farewell! I must be off.

Pilgrimama